Emerging-market users are treating crypto exchanges like banking apps, Binance says
Emerging markets accounted for 77% of Binance users in 2026, up from 49% in 2020, as users in those countries increasingly used the exchange for savings, payments and investment access, the exchange said. Binance Researchs latest report frames crypto adoption as a financial-access story rather than a trading story. Binance said 83% of users engaging with two or more products on the platform are based in emerging markets, while users in those markets show savings rates more than twice as high as users in developed markets. About 36% of emerging-market Binance users with balances of at least $10 hold at least half of their portfolio in stablecoins, according to the report, which points to the pattern as “consistent with savings-oriented usage.” Globally, 28% of users meet that threshold, up from 4% in 2020. The data points to growing use of crypto platforms as substitute financial infrastructure in markets where banking access remains limited. The World Bank says 1.3 billion adults still lack access to financial services, while 900 million unbanked adults own a mobile phone and 530 million own a smartphone. Binance said 4.7 billion adults lack access to credit or loans, 3.6 billion adults in low- and middle-income countries do not use digital payments