Bitcoin Forum

I got curious and decided to take a look at the top downloaded bitcoin or cryptocurrency related apps of some countries on both the iOS App Store and Google Play. Nothing that super groundbreaking, but really interesting nonetheless at least in my opinion.

Conclusions from taken data at the end.



n/a = not a single bitcoin or cryptocurrency app in the top 200 of most downloaded
PayPal isn't included because their cryptocurrency arm was just released quite recently
data is taken from SensorTower (https://sensortower.com/)

Some conclusions/assumptions/curiosities:

• iPhone(iOS) users are far more likely to download bitcoin or cryptocurrency apps
• Binance sure is extraordinarily dominant
• Italy, seriously?
• First and second world countries are more likely to download bitcoin or cryptocurrency apps
• Dear Turkey and Romania, what the hell is this Pi Network thing and why is it so high up in your list?

That's all, folks. Hope some of you found this slightly interesting at the very least.

I am an android user and it is not obvious that Binance will be in any countries most downloaded app, because of its unique features and outstanding services, and for me, I am using it as well in buying and trading Bitcoin and other known Cryptocurrency, and aside from Binance, Coinbase, Xapo, and the well known online wallet here in the Phillippines Coins .ph each wallet had their own purpose and experience in my opinion, in Coinbase I am using it for my 2nd option wallet for easy convert BTC to Dollar, Xapo was just a catch basin during the time when I was collecting satoshi on faucets and other small amounted free satoshi, and lastly Coins .ph is my main wallet that is based here in The Phillippines,

I haven't encountered the Pi Network and my first time hearing it as well.

I've been using the Binance app for more than a year and am quite comfortable with its pretty good features and very friendly to my phone. even though my country is not listed as one of the countries to download the bitcoin application above, in fact many around me already use the application. and so far they are quite satisfied without experiencing any problems. indeed a tremendous feat for Binance to date.

Binance is just the best, coinbase restricts many countries not to use their trading platform, but binance is available to many countries of the world. Binance is not allowed in United State, it could have been the dominated exchange in United States, but they have Binance US. In my opinion, I prefer binance also with its low withdrawal fee and low trading fee.

I have downloaded most of the exchange apps that I usually operate. Binance was the first to download. Fortunately the experience has been good.
My recommendations is to always keep them updated in the same way as your preferred browser. When creating an account in them, keep your account completely safe.

For new ones, do login tests and close the account. Take a tour of the app's features. If you need technical support, read the help section of the exchanges. If you still need help contact technical support, they work 24/7.
Happy trading!

I think aside from Bitcoin or crypto related wallets, Exchanges are the most important ingredient from getting in (buying) and getting out (selling) out of the crypto space. So that's the reason they are very popular.

Also remember that most people who do know the risks still use exchanges as wallets, so they see no need of downloading bitcoin or other crypto wallets.
Exchanges are also user-friendly to newbies and easy to step as compared to wallet that might require some little technical knowledge.

I guess it's the amount of adoption as well as the amount of how the first adopters released on what to use, taking advantage of users being new to crypto. Probably the same idea with Turkey, even though there MIGHT be better options, they continue to use that Pi Network (also my first time hearing it). It's pretty much how here in the PH, other than using bank accounts, coins are the only way (afaik) to easily buy crypto and move them to exchanges to trade.

I guess Italy is behind the times, or just hell, they hate downloading on their phones.

I was at the very least expecting to see the Blockchain.com app somewhere.

Of course, the Philippines should be on the list because we are one of those countries where our government doesn't put a huge tax on BTC. Only those exchanges that increase their commission every time the price of bitcoins is increasing but thankfully right now they are not doing it. As you can see, countries that have some huge taxes on BTC are not on the list because people don't really bother when they feel like they won't get to earn some money if they don't invest some big amount in it. That's what currently happening there especially in India.

I am an Android user,but I have never downloaded a cryptocurrency app in my entire life.
I prefer browsing cryptocurrency related websites and trading platforms on my laptop.
Using a smartphone doesn't seem convenient enough to me.
I have always though that Android crypto wallets aren't secure,so I'm too scared to use an Android wallet. ;D
It's quite funny that the Pi network app is so high in Turkey and Romania.
When I'm searching in Google Play,the Pi network app is usually in my recommended list,which is weird.
I guess that many people want to get this Pi altcoin for free. ;D

Starting with Binance, I believe the reason why it is extraordinarily dominant is owing to the reason the exchange itself is outstanding and hence the team ensure their exchange is easily accessible which is further achieved through having an efficient and user-friendly mobile application; I might not be mistaken for saying their mobile application is the best out there. Also, the reason why I think iPhone users download more cryptocurrency application is that, iPhone apps are more secure therefore less chances of having scam applications, but same cannot be said of their counterpart. Just like you are surprised about Italy, is the same way, many people would be surprised or will it be right to say they prefer using the browsers. Nevertheless, thanks for the insight, have learnt a lot from this data.

It is not that surprising to be honest.
There aren't that many applications on phones for cryptocurrency users apart from 2 main categories of wallets and trading apps. Considering the fact that people don't usually use phone wallets and the desktop and hardware wallets are still a lot more popular due to their higher security, that makes the only other option that is trading apps of a big altcoin exchange more popular.
This also proves that there are still a lot of altcoin gamblers who are trying to make some money by making bets on pump and dump altcoins.

Binance is the top exchange and it opens service for international users. They don't force user to comply with KYC and they provide many trade pairs for bitcoin, altcoins in spot, leverage, future markets.

I can see reasons that help Binance to take top spots in that analysis.

Coinbase has strict restriction on nationality of users and they bide with law regulations in the US. Some other services in that table, I don't know and have never used them, honestly.

Exchanges are dominating. It could mean different things. It could mean people, at least the majority of those from the included countries, prefer to trade, or perhaps monitor the prices, or even keep their funds on either Binance or Coinbase.

I hope it does not signify something like Coinbase and Binance wallets are the top two wallets where people keep their funds. Because if that is so, it means we are sorely lacking basic Bitcoin education at least in terms of security. Or perhaps it means we are indeed at a very early phase. Time might come when the top crypto downloads of countries are reputable open-source non-custodial wallets.

Especially taking into consideration that we're pretty much in a bull market, it's a pretty safe assumption that this is the case. Same with the 2017 bull run and the preceding bull runs, A LOT of people are going to get burned with their exchange accounts getting hacked, some of them getting scammed/hacked, some of them "investing" in shitcoins, and the like. It's an unfortunate pattern that I don't see going anywhere anytime soon.

Or perhaps majority of these downloads are coming from crypto newbies. As such, many of them might have found it the easiest or most convenient way to purchase their first Bitcoin or crypto from either Binance or Coinbase app. As we all know, we are at the age of smart phones. Things are done through mobile apps.

I really do hope, however, that these are simply baby steps. And I also hope that this newbie phase is quick. New entrants to crypto will eventually mature. Sooner or later, they will learn that their funds are not safe in exchange wallets. They will eventually turn into cold storage.

Pretty much another safe assumption. The concept of self-custody is just too abnormal due to people being so used to having their money(or pretty much almost anything) being handled by a custodial service.

Some will learn, and some will just completely quit unfortunately.

I was surprised to see blockchain.com not there either.  It was the first BTC app I downloaded (USA, iPhone).

I'm not surprised at all. Binance is the best. Period.

But lately, I have to download a few others and I was surprised how good is the mobile trading UI these days. While you can't watch two exchanges simultaneously, mobile trading is a thing now.

I am from India and an Android user, I think you need to search WazirX which is the Indian arm of Binance exchange. I think they are the most downloaded app on android. I have seen a lot of my friends also using it on their android phone. Since you have done such a great job I would ask you to check India's android once again by the given name.

It is not surprising actually, their services have been pretty terrible and finally being too slow to upgrade and fix the issues made them obsolete. They are still around exactly because they were one of the pioneers otherwise it is one of the worst services out there both as a block explorer and a wallet.
For example the community hasn't yet forgotten how they refused to implement SegWit for years. Or how poor their fee estimation is. and a lot of other issues.

Good insight! However, I am little surprised to see that Pi network is so popular in Turkey and Romania. It is just like any other shitcoin that can be mined from mobile and also it is not truly decentralized. Also to use Pi token, you need to be fully KYC compliant. I am not sure how it has reached to such a high position in these two countries.

For India, Coinswitch is really doing well. One of my friends wanted to experience and invest in crypto so I helped him opening an account with Coinswitch. They are a government registered entity and has a very simple and smooth KYC process. Their list of coins are also extensive and the user interface is really easy to understand for a nube. They are really doing well in India and recently they have raised $15 million in their first round of funding.

It's indeed a great sight to see that crypto related apps are gaining popularity worldwide. The market is at a very nascent stage now and we are seeing great results. Hope this trend would continue!