Map of Bitcoin adoption worldwide

[Ucy]

This doesn't get me too excited. Real adoption is with businesses or individuals that operate according to ideals of Bitcoin enabling them to be transparent, decentralized , mobile, unstoppable, privacy-friendly, etc. Adoption that is outside of this is like operating centralized exchanges/platforms in Bitcoin or crypto space. It is unsustainable, or they pretend to be sustainable until they start getting shutdown, regulated, controlled by governments rather than Bitcoin/community, etc.

Real adoption from Bitcoin businesses or marketplaces should work according to Bitcoin ideals and be self regulated, then they wouldn't need to worry about government intervention, but if government intervenes unnecessarily, they can always be protected under the Bitcoin ideals

[Miles2006]

Bitcoin growth is getting massive besides the purpose of bitcoin as transaction means actually is more common nowadays because people now understands bitcoin and how bitcoin works not mainly a scam as many portray bitcoin to be, I find it surprising about bitcoin map nationwide adoption rate obviously the adoption keeps growing as usual. I know about businesses who accept bitcoin as a means of payment in my locality, bitcoin is advanced to a level where landlords consider accepting bitcoin according to my research in most region, I’m just finding about the map.

[Darker45]

This is a great map especially for international travelers who want to spend their Bitcoin whenever they visit another city or country. I remember Didi Taihuttu's family, popularly called The Bitcoin family for selling all their possessions, bought Bitcoin, and roamed around the world using Bitcoin. This must be a great guide for them, and their kind.

There was actually such kind of map here in my country where one could easily locate businesses that accept Bitcoin. I forgot the site, but I hope it's still updated.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

I’d also like to know, have you ever seen any other maps besides the ones I usually visit? And what do you know about them or even your feel? Let’s share our thoughts.

I don't quite remember if the map I saw was exactly the same as the one you shared, but I believe adoption has actually increased every time Bitcoin reaches its ATH, indicating that Bitcoin is starting to be accepted by all groups and even groups that may have previously been skeptical. I'm also not sure whether this increase in adoption is influenced by certain assessments regarding the store of value, as we often mention.

I once had a friend who said he would never get involved in Bitcoin, but he's now starting to participate in investing. This may not be a universal picture, as it's just one person, but I believe Bitcoin's journey so far has made a difference in the attitudes of someone who was previously apathetic, but now he's starting to get involved.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

I don't quite remember if the map I saw was exactly the same as the one you shared, but I believe adoption has actually increased every time Bitcoin reaches its ATH, indicating that Bitcoin is starting to be accepted by all groups and even groups that may have previously been skeptical. I'm also not sure whether this increase in adoption is influenced by certain assessments regarding the store of value, as we often mention.

I once had a friend who said he would never get involved in Bitcoin, but he's now starting to participate in investing. This may not be a universal picture, as it's just one person, but I believe Bitcoin's journey so far has made a difference in the attitudes of someone who was previously apathetic, but now he's starting to get involved.

It can be figures from surveys but if you don't have any survey report, you can use this chart from Coin Dance.
https://coin.dance/stats#demographics

Some reports to read too.
Cryptocurrency annual consumer report. This report has many interesting figures and information including cryptocurrency demographics.

What's driving Bitcoin adoption in 2026.

[Lucius]

~snip~
When you check the hotel page:

Maybe Bitcoin is a means of payment under the counter (unofficially) - you get a room with a discount and a night visit who kindly convinces you to hand over your wallets and private keys. For years, I myself have been checking various similar maps, and when I went to the official website of a store shown on the map, I would find no trace that they accept Bitcoin.

I think the point is that some give up very quickly after offering such a payment option, especially those who receive BTC directly without payment processors. Volatility is what scares most sellers, even though there has long been a solution for that.

[X-ray]

Real adoption from Bitcoin businesses or marketplaces should work according to Bitcoin ideals and be self regulated, then they wouldn't need to worry about government intervention, but if government intervenes unnecessarily, they can always be protected under the Bitcoin ideals

Can't really adopt bitcoin without abiding by the government regulation, if the country accept it as a legal tender, then its fine. If not, then you're more likely to not continue adopt it.

After all, some countries simply too afraid to accept bitcoin as a legal tender.

[d5000]

I've researched these maps a bit for the following thread last year: Places where you can travel paying with Bitcoin in 2025. Also because I'm a geography nerd

But I think the results are unfortunately still quite disappointing. Most places at BTC Map are businesses of diverse service categories which are not really useful for most people, like IT solutions or mobile phone companies.

There are some "Bitcoin hubs", for sure, places where you really can visit with Bitcoin paying for hotels and food, and these are those cities shown in the thread I link above. But often it would be still a headache to really organize a "pure Bitcoin visit".

It's also interesting that the US is seemingly quite undeveloped outside of the biggest metropolis, which is strange, Europe does a bit better (but also not "really" well). For example, in the whole Manhattan area in NYC there isn't currently a single hotel accepting Bitcoin payments according to BTC Map.

BTW the Bitcoin.com map is quite bad (not that I'm really surprised considering the history of that website). It doesn't show the type of business in the map, you have to click on it and at some places even then you see only the business name, sometimes a phone number. BTC Map seems much better although the interface could be improved a lot too (for example, if there are more than one business in an area, they could be grouped together just like Google groups types of sources in its IA mode, e.g. "restaurant x 2, hotel x 5" and so on).

[NotATether]

Then your knowledge about the world lacks a ton, there are fewer places on that map accepting Bitcoin than Starbucks in the US!

And even so , most of them are just spamming garbage, picked a few random locations, curious what Bitcoin places are in Africa:

https://map.bitcoin.com/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa/omermohemmad74-gmail-com/Addis-Ababa-
lol
Also:
https://map.bitcoin.com/Ethiopia/Addis-Ababa/Mado-Hotel-%7C-Bole-Atlas-%7C-%E1%88%9B%E1%8B%B6-%E1%88%86%E1%89%B4%E1%88%8D-%7C-%E1%89%A6%E1%88%8C-%E1%8A%A0%E1%89%B5%E1%88%8B%E1%88%B5-%7CGreens-Restaurant-Addis-Ababa-Ethiopia/Namibia-Avenue-Bole-Sub-City-Woreda-03-Atlas-Area-%E1%8A%A0%E1%8B%B2%E1%88%B5-%E1%8A%A0%E1%89%A0%E1%89%A3-Ethiopia

When you check the hotel page:

I would go there, just to check it out, but that particular area is full of pickpockets and thieves, so a visit is not really worth it imo.

It's right next to the airport though, so if anyone plans a visit, I guess you can check it out for me.

[stompix]

I would go there, just to check it out, but that particular area is full of pickpockets and thieves, so a visit is not really worth it imo.

I tend to avoid planning trips in locations that have had mroe bombing in the last 10 years than Bitcoin accepting businesses 

It's also interesting that the US is seemingly quite undeveloped outside of the biggest metropolis, which is strange, Europe does a bit better (but also not "really" well). For example, in the whole Manhattan area in NYC there isn't currently a single hotel accepting Bitcoin payments according to BTC Map.

There is plenty of misleading things on that map, a clear example is with restaurants, so Paris has 13, Prague has 200...
Wow, the capital of Bitcoin, right? 
The difference is made by a payment service integrated into a platform that deals with reservations and etc, that app allows top-up with BTC...so it's not like you can pay in that restaurant with BTC, you can pay with Qerko that supports top-up with BTC. 

[ultrloa]

Real adoption from Bitcoin businesses or marketplaces should work according to Bitcoin ideals and be self regulated, then they wouldn't need to worry about government intervention, but if government intervenes unnecessarily, they can always be protected under the Bitcoin ideals

Can't really adopt bitcoin without abiding by the government regulation, if the country accept it as a legal tender, then its fine. If not, then you're more likely to not continue adopt it.

After all, some countries simply too afraid to accept bitcoin as a legal tender.

This Bitcoin acceptance on merchants will depends if the government has an order to register this, but for what I commonly government don't interfere if the merchant allow Bitcoin to be accepted on their store.

But still it depends on the country where you currently on and what type of politicians or leaders you have.

BTW the Bitcoin.com map is quite bad (not that I'm really surprised considering the history of that website).

Maybe you find this site useful https://mappingbitcoin.com/

[AmoreJaz]

Real adoption from Bitcoin businesses or marketplaces should work according to Bitcoin ideals and be self regulated, then they wouldn't need to worry about government intervention, but if government intervenes unnecessarily, they can always be protected under the Bitcoin ideals

Can't really adopt bitcoin without abiding by the government regulation, if the country accept it as a legal tender, then its fine. If not, then you're more likely to not continue adopt it.

After all, some countries simply too afraid to accept bitcoin as a legal tender.

If the government does not ban the use of crypto, then, for me it is ok to transact with btc or other alts. Just keep yourself updated with the laws and protocols of your government when it comes to crypto. Because if you won't totally deal with crypto, it means, you are missing some opportunities brought by this market.

Based from coingecko's website -

https://www.coingecko.com/learn/countries-ban-bitcoin

The countries with level 3 ban (complete prohibition) are the following - you can see that this is already a short list
> Afghanistan
> Algeria
> Bangladesh
> China
> Egypt
> Kuwait
> Nepal
> North Macedonia
> Tunisia

It is actually surprising that even in the  level 2 (payment restrictions), and level 1 (regulatory restrictions), that North Korea is not in the list at all.

[d5000]

The difference is made by a payment service integrated into a platform that deals with reservations and etc, that app allows top-up with BTC...so it's not like you can pay in that restaurant with BTC, you can pay with Qerko that supports top-up with BTC. 

If you have to install the app and do the KYC [1] before you can access to the Bitcoin features, I'd indeed consider that misleading. Map apps should at least clearly differentiate that type of payments from "real" Bitcoin payments. I guess such apps are also the reason for a lot of mobile phone top-up services in some other countries. Payment processors where you don't need an installation (Bitpay, Coingate etc.) would be okay as "Bitcoin payments" for me, as long as they don't force you to use their app.

I see there was even a Github issue for that problem: https://github.com/teambtcmap/btcmap-data/issues/4283

Maybe you find this site useful https://mappingbitcoin.com/

Oh, that one is indeed quite good - it shows how many shops of several categories are entered. Could be the best Bitcoin map app until now. Thanks!


[1] a very light type of KYC however, only an email address is needed according to the Github issue which is not even verified. But that info is from 2023, pre-MiCa times. Could have changed. The Google AI mentions also a mobile number and the name of the customer have to be provided. It seems however there's no verification of the customer identity.

[OcTradism]

[1] a very light type of KYC however, only an email address is needed according to the Github issue which is not even verified. But that info is from 2023, pre-MiCa times. Could have changed. The Google AI mentions also a mobile number and the name of the customer have to be provided. It seems however there's no verification of the customer identity.

If it is a phone number, in many nations it is enough to track identity of that person. Especially if you don't use a throw away phone number for registration. It does not actually need the name of customer announced by that person when registration an account too. Not all people do care about their privacy and they even don't know that with their "main"/ "real" phone number, their identity will be known very well by the company already.

I see it is still KYC but there are people who can bypass it with throwaway phone numbers.

[taufik123]

Both come from Indonesia and we know that Bitcoin regulation in Indonesia is only as a commodity tool,
not as payment for goods and services and what is allowed is only rupiah.

Some of the maps that show the locations where Bitcoin payments are accepted,
I think that's just a marker and don't really accept Bitcoin because it's blocked by regulations.

The people who put the markers on the Bitcoin map are just trying to promote their businesses on the map and don't actually accept Bitcoin.

[stompix]

The difference is made by a payment service integrated into a platform that deals with reservations and etc, that app allows top-up with BTC...so it's not like you can pay in that restaurant with BTC, you can pay with Qerko that supports top-up with BTC. 

If you have to install the app and do the KYC [1] before you can access to the Bitcoin features, I'd indeed consider that misleading. Map apps should at least clearly differentiate that type of payments from "real" Bitcoin payments. I guess such apps are also the reason for a lot of mobile phone top-up services in some other countries. Payment processors where you don't need an installation (Bitpay, Coingate etc.) would be okay as "Bitcoin payments" for me, as long as they don't force you to use their app.

I see there was even a Github issue for that problem: https://github.com/teambtcmap/btcmap-data/issues/4283

Hihi, never knew they actually found that thing 

And no, you don't need KYC for it, just a phone number and your address, it works pretty much as Glovo or Uber Eats , you just add a payment option, and that's it.
There was another one but I don't remember which!
Anyhow, it's pretty easy to see which maps are using those and which not, just go to Prague the numbers will tell all the story!

Oh, again, MiCa is not an issue here, it's just a payment gateway, much like...paysafecard for example!

[o48o]

-cut-
I’d also like to know, have you ever seen any other maps besides the ones I usually visit? And what do you know about them or even your feel? Let’s share our thoughts.

Sadly such lists / maps that list places that accept bitcoin have rarely accurate or updated information. Because when they do decide to accept it, bitcoiners are eager to list them, but they never really announce when they get rid of that option.

I immediately checked 2 of the companies websites in my country that are listed accepting btc / ethereum and neither one had an option to pay with cryptos.

Places where used to buy from with bitcoin, even though they accepted payment via third party apps have also removed that option. I am guessing that it messes up with their accounting or something, as all that reporting got way too time consuming and confusing while back.

[DiMarxist]

From what I can see from the map Bitcoin adoption has come a long way, looking at how Bitcoin started years back . It's a thing of joy that bitcoin today is a house hold name in every every country. There is no country in the world today that bitcoin is not known, bitcoin today has bridged a major gap in the financial sector in terms of making international payments. This map of Bitcoin shows that Bitcoin has gained the confidence of the world.

[nemesis_incarnate]

From what I can see from the map Bitcoin adoption has come a long way, looking at how Bitcoin started years back . It's a thing of joy that bitcoin today is a house hold name in every every country. There is no country in the world today that bitcoin is not known, bitcoin today has bridged a major gap in the financial sector in terms of making international payments. This map of Bitcoin shows that Bitcoin has gained the confidence of the world.

I think it's only the beginning. I wouldn't say that BTC is used to an extent that it should be.. which is both as good as it's bad.

It brought alternative to the people, but people aren't holding it closer to their hearts, or outright dismiss BTC..

[Davidvictorson]

I’ve often enjoyed looking at the global distribution of businesses that accept Bitcoin payments. And I also sometimes see Bitcoin ATMs at various locations. I personally seeing this on a world map amazes me as I witness Bitcoin’s rapidly expanding reach. Although I can only monitor this from afar for now since I can’t actually visit the businesses that accept cryptocurrency. But it’s a source of enjoyment for me to imagine visiting them someday.

Thank you for sharing this. I clicked on the link and try to zoom in to my location. It was pretty interesting. While I have seem a couple of bitcoin ATMs in some business places here, I have never thought to ask the business owners if they do accept bitcoin. It is amazing to see how far bitcoin has come - some years ago, the map would have been so scanty but look at it now. I am very optimistic that more businesses will list bitcoin as a payment option in the future and the map will be more populated in several new locations.