Cryptocurrency markets have seen swings that touched every corner of the globe over the past year, with noticeable impacts on how transactions are conducted and valued. In Spain, transaction value slipped by 6% in 2022, landing at 368 million euros. This outcome is part of a broader European pattern highlighted in a fintech industry study by EAE Business School. Germany, France, and the Netherlands reported similar declines, while Russia experienced a sharper fall of about 10% in digital currency usage. In contrast, countries outside Europe recorded brisk growth, aided in part by a calmer regulatory discourse on digital assets. From 2021 to 2022, numeric growth trajectories reached double digits in several markets, including Vietnam (40%), Brazil (37%), Mexico (34%), Indonesia (32%), and India (30%), with the United States among the leaders in overall crypto activity. Spain ranked 13th in global usage among the countries studied. The United States, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and South Korea remained at the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption, underscoring a diverse global landscape .
Several pivotal forces shaped the cryptocurrency and blockchain environment over the last year. The dominant cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, experienced a substantial price correction, moving from about $47,300 to roughly $23,600 in the course of the year. Professor Dorina Nicoara and Denis Boevskiy, researchers behind the study, note that a clear ongoing trend is the expansion of government-mandated regulation designed to prevent legal fragmentation and to offer clearer guarantees for consumers and investors in digital assets. In Europe, MiCA regulation was approved in 2022 and is expected to become effective in the near term. While there is no comprehensive regulatory framework for digital currencies in many regions, reporting requirements for crypto activities are increasingly common across jurisdictions .
DIGITAL PAYMENT GROWTH
The study also surveys the development of digital payments, covering the broad spectrum of services that enable payments through electronic devices without relying on cash. Spain, for instance, ranked 13th globally in 2022 for digital payment transaction volume, reaching 70 million euros that year. China led in 2022 with 3,227 million euros in transactions, while the United States logged 1,622 million euros in the same period. These figures reflect a shift toward integrated payment ecosystems that connect traditional financial services with new technology-driven platforms .
Experts emphasize that digital payment ecosystems increasingly involve integrated software providers and new players such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL). This blended landscape ties together payments, central banking functions, and other financial technologies with consumer-focused business models, prompting many firms to view integrated payments as a strategic tool for value creation and efficiency .
OTHER FINTECH TRENDS
Fintech firms offer a wide array of services—from payments and transfers to lending, asset management, and insurance, with digital assets like cryptocurrencies playing a role in many offerings. The business model, driven by technology and access to consumer data, enables more personalized products at lower costs and greater efficiency, according to the study. The research also highlights how investtech, a sector featuring companies that use technology to simplify investing and money management across digital channels, has shown steady growth. Spain sits mid-pack in this space, ranking 13th among major asset-managing economies, with assets totaling around 7,000 million euros in 2022, trailing leaders such as the United States, China, and Japan .
In alternative financing, crowdfunding remains a popular instrument. By the end of 2022, the United States led the crowdfunding market by transaction value at 410 million euros, followed by Japan at 146 million euros. Spain ranked 12th with 7.8 million euros, illustrating the uneven geographic distribution of these new financing models across mature and developing markets .