Aussies Lead Memecoin Adoption, ETH Dominates Portfolios New Report Shows

As the Olympics get underway in Paris, an anonymised analysis of Australians crypto holdings released by Kraken earlier this month has found that us Aussies have already secured the gold medal in that most prestigious of endeavours—FOMOing into new memecoins. 

Kraken’s analysis revealed that compared to the rest of the world Aussies have been eager adopters of the new wave of memecoins, including DogWifHat (WIF), PEPE and BONK. It also found that Australians are big hodlers of Ethereum compared to the global average and that the most actively traded cryptocurrencies in Australia are Bitcoin and Solana.

Related: Memecoins Spearhead Crypto Market Revival, with BOME and BONK Leading the Charge

Kraken Data Shows Aussies Love Memes

Kraken’s analysis involved looking at what cryptocurrencies are held and traded by its Australian customers compared to its global customers. Its insights are based on anonymous, aggregated data of all user accounts which was used to create a hypothetical profile of an ‘average Australian Kraken user.’

Perhaps the biggest difference Kraken found between Aussie crypto investors and their global counterparts is Aussies’ enthusiasm for the newer memecoins. Globally, older memecoins like DOGE and SHIB are the much more popular option, but in Australia the gap in ownership is significantly narrower.

The ownership rates of newer memecoins by Aussie Kraken users compared to global users is:

• PEPE: 2.65% of Aussie Kraken users vs 1.49% globally
• WIF: 1.58% of Aussie users vs 0.45% globally
• BONK: 1.50% of Aussie users vs 0.67% globally

Whereas the ownership rates of the more established memecoins is much lower in Australia compared to global rates:

• DOGE: 6.65% of Aussie users vs 12.40% globally
• SHIB: 3.89% of Aussie users vs 5.49% globally

Speaking to The Block about these findings earlier this month, Jonathon Miller, Kraken Australia’s Managing Director said:

It is great to see the enthusiasm Australians are showing towards new memecoins, which are a fun and increasingly popular part of the crypto ecosystem. Australians are no stranger to venturing off the beaten track, a trait useful when navigating this ever-evolving asset class.

Jonathon Miller, Kraken Australia’s Managing Director

ETH Dominates Holdings, Bitcoin Leads in Trading Volume

In terms of what cryptocurrencies Aussies are hodling, Kraken found that ETH dominates, with the original smart contract platform accounting for 49.31% of the hypothetical average Aussie crypto investor’s holdings—far more than the global average of 29.24%. Bitcoin is the second most held crypto by value at 26.13% (a lot lower than the global number of 39.73%), while Solana and Polkadot round out the top four.

Related: Kraken Opens Institutional Services in Australia, UK Following US Launch 

Unsurprisingly, Kraken found that Bitcoin dominates trading volume in Australia, accounting for 27.07% of trading volume, ever so slightly higher than the global average of 26.46%. Solana came in second for trading volume, making up 10.02% of Aussie volume, significantly higher than global volume (7.81%), while ETH came in third at 9.66% of trading volume, slightly lower than the global number of 9.93%.