Global digital asset ownership rises in 2025, UK leading

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Global digital asset adoption is growing in 2025, with the United Kingdom leading the way in increasing ownership among its population. This is according to a new study by Gemini, who attributed the increase, in part, to the influence and policies of United States President Donald Trump.

Gemini, the U.S.-based digital asset exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers, released its latest “State of Crypto” report on May 27, offering a breakdown of investor awareness around digital currencies, motivations for owning and trading, and global adoption rates.

Based on a survey of 7,205 adult consumers across the U.S., Europe, Singapore and Australia (approximately 1,200 consumers per country), the report found that global adoption of digital assets is growing across all areas, with ownership increasing fastest in Europe.

In 2024, one in five (21%) respondents in the U.S., U.K., France, and Singapore reported owning digital assets. In 2025, that figure grew to nearly one in four (24%).

The U.K. saw the biggest year-on-year growth in ownership of the surveyed nations, with the share of respondents indicating digital asset holdings rising from 18% last year to 24% as of April.

For comparison, 21% of French respondents reported owning digital assets in 2025, up from 18% in 2024, while in the U.S., the number grew from 21% to 22%.

However, while the U.K. has reportedly seen the most notable increase in new owners, it is still not the world’s top nation for digital asset ownership.

According to the report, Singapore has been the top country globally for digital asset ownership in the past two years, with 26% of local respondents surveyed last year saying they were invested in digital assets, up to 28% this year.

Global growth due to Trump

In part, Gemini attributed the global growth to the Trump Administration’s approach to digital assets.

“Since coming into office in January 2025, President Trump has established a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve for the United States, appointed SEC leadership that has displayed a more favorable approach to digital assets, and expressed support for bills that will provide stablecoin legislation and a regulatory framework for digital assets,” said Gemini. “Survey results suggest that these policies are inspiring interest in the industry among non-owners—those who have never invested in crypto.”

The company added that understanding and winning over this latter group of potential investors “will drive significant growth for the industry, which has experienced relatively flat adoption over the past few years.”

“The United States has proven itself as a global leader in Web3 and blockchain technology with the addition of Trump’s pro-crypto policies, which is a significant change from the previous Administration,” said Marshall Beard, Chief Operating Officer at Gemini. “With this pro-innovation approach, the crypto industry is positioned for significant growth in the United States and around the world.”

Trump has also been in the headlines recently for his more controversial links to the digital asset space, specifically his dabbling in memecoins with the $TRUMP memecoin.

Gemini suggested that the memecoin market and the veneer of legitimacy provided by Trump’s involvement may play a part in the growth of global digital asset investment.

The report found that in the U.S. 31% of investors who own both memecoins and traditional digital assets reported that they purchased their memecoins first, followed by 28% in the U.K. and Australia, 23% in Singapore, 22% in Italy, and 19% in France.

For Gemini, this indicated that “memecoins likely drove crypto adoption… globally, 94% of memecoin owners also own other types of crypto, suggesting memecoins are an onramp to crypto for many investors around the globe.”

Outside of Trump’s influence, another key finding of the survey showed a boost in digital asset ownership in the U.S. following the approval of spot crypto ETFs in early 2024, with 39% of surveyed investors reportedly now owning crypto ETFs, up from 37% in 2024.

Regulatory influence and the UK rise

While Trump’s pro-crypto policies appear to spur global adoption and investment, the impact of regulation appears less clear. Adoption grew notably in both the EU and U.K., two very contrasting regulatory environments.

Gemini suggested this growth in the EU and U.K. reflected “a warming regulatory environment for digital assets in Europe.” However, while the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Regulation has been broadly praised as a comprehensive and forward-thinking framework specifically tailored to digital assets, the U.K. has yet to adopt a national regulatory framework for digital assets.

Meanwhile, Gemini’s head of Europe, Mark Jennings—in an interview reported by Cointelegraph—suggested that the U.K.’s sharp spike in digital asset ownership, despite its lack of a MiCA-style regulatory framework, could be down to a combination of the country’s status as a “central financial hub for many decades” and the outside influence that MiCA would likely have on adjacent countries.

In April, the U.K. government published a draft regulation that would bring digital asset exchanges, dealers and agents under the U.K.’s financial services regulatory regime. At the same time, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves indicated that the U.K. planned to more closely align with the Trump 2.0-era approach to supporting innovation across the digital asset industry.

While the U.K. waits for its final regulatory framework for digital assets, which the Treasury is expected to finalize later this year, it appears investors are undeterred by the uncertainty, in keeping with a global trend towards increased digital asset ownership in 2025.

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