Crypto on demand a cross-country comparative analysis

The Mortgage Crisis that emerged in the United States of America in 2008 threatened the global economic system in a short time, which led to the questioning of the trust in the financial system. Technological innovations that emerged in the post-crisis period were also reflected in the financial world and the existence of blockchain technology was shaped by cryptocurrencies. With Bitcoin, produced by a person or group named Satoshi Nakamoto, the popularity of cryptocurrencies has become increasingly widespread globally as an alternative to traditional currencies and has added a new dimension to the financial world. While the approaches of countries to cryptocurrencies vary around the world, the number of scientific studies on the demand for cryptocurrencies has been increasing in recent years. In this study, the conceptual framework of cryptocurrencies is explained, the demand and approaches to cryptocurrencies in countries are compared, and finally, the relationship between the demand for cryptocurrencies and macroeconomic variables is investigated. Whether there is a significant relationship between the participation rates of countries in cryptocurrencies and macroeconomic variables such as real per capita income, inflation rates, unemployment rates, and in addition, misery index is estimated by regression analysis according to the Robust Least Squares Method. According to findings, it is observed that the demand for cryptocurrencies increases as the per capita income levels of the countries and decreases as the misery index scores increase.