The west has on-ramps, the rest gave drop-offs: what’s really pushing global crypto adoption

The following is a guest post and opinion from Konstantins Vasilenko, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer at Paybis.

There is a stark mismatch between the target and actual audience of crypto products. Crypto’s greatest upcomers rarely make an appearance in the news, nor do they enjoy the privilege of extensive localization and optimization efforts from the devs’ side. Today, most platforms are still building and optimizing for Western markets exclusively, resulting in high drop-off rates in Latin America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Yet, it is precisely these regions that drive crypto adoption forward. In 2024, the top 3 spots in Chainalysis’ crypto adoption ranking were secured by India, Nigeria, and Indonesia, and only four developed economies made it to the top 20 overall. Emerging markets are the most promising in terms of user count growth tempo: proprietary data from Paybis shows a 66% year-on-year user increase in developing economies, overshadowing the developed markets by a factor of two. And that has been the case for years.

The tested solution to boost engagement and secure a loyal customer base is crypto on-ramps, which have already proved their utility in the US and Europe. However, conversion rates on on-ramps tend to be notably lower in developing markets: 14% fewer users initiate KYC, 20% fewer are approved, and 11% fewer complete transactions. Replicating Western flows without localization has proven ineffective: platforms must localize to fit local KYC flows, local payment methods, and behaviors. Without localized on-ramps, mass adoption will remain a pipe dream.

Devs Still Optimize for Western Markets

Crypto may be borderless in theory, but in practice, it still has a passport. The comfort level of the same app might vary drastically from country to country, as platforms often assume fluency in the North American or European banking system or similarity in user habits.

To put it simply, something that works in Toronto might not work in Lagos. In Nigeria, over 96% of users register via mobile, making it the primary access method. It is simply incomparable to developed countries like Canada, Australia, or Japan, where desktop-first behavior dominates. Flows often fail when ported to countries with informal economies and lower banking penetration.

The challenge of KYC flows is compounded, considering how often some platforms lack on-ramps. Instead of a streamlined flow, a user has to go through repeated KYC verifications only to start using services. Without improvements to user experience, there is little chance that consumers will migrate to DeFi alternatives en masse. In emerging markets, crypto remains a geek-for-geeks type of product. Tech-savvy niches are satisfied, but the demographic that needs crypto the most is excluded.

Payment Localization Is the Future

To unlock growth in emerging markets, platforms must localize. Recent case studies suggest that the key to doing it successfully is integration with the payment systems people already trust and use.

Take South America, where PIX, the Brazilian government-backed instant payment system, has been a game-changer. Platforms that integrate with PIX have seen a marked reduction in drop-offs thanks to the seamless and familiar user experience. Brazilian platform Mercado Bitcoin integrated PIX in 2020. By enabling instant zero‑fee deposits via the country’s native payment rail, the platform saw onboarding completion rates jump, while early drop‑offs significantly declined. Users no longer needed cards or complex bank transfers—only the payment methods they already used on a daily basis.

Localization also means adapting verification processes to local norms, offering mobile-first and multilingual interfaces, and designing for environments where mobile usage is still dominant and digital literacy varies widely.

Fix the On-Ramps, Reduce the Drop-Offs

Emerging markets already dominate global crypto adoption metrics. But interest alone doesn’t guarantee sustainable adoption. Without localized on-ramps, platforms will continue to lose potential users at the very first step of the conversion funnel: the bridge from fiat funds to trusted and accessible crypto.

The next wave of crypto adoption will not be conquered by the best technology. Its crest will fall to the platforms that make this technology accessible, intuitive, and locally relevant.

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