Malta topped the list of countries by the trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges, while Russia became the largest market for OTC cryptocurrency trading despite the lack of legislation for crypto industry.

Worldcore, financial services provider, published a report on the cryptocurrency trading volume in various jurisdictions, analizing data from June and July 2018. According to the results of the study, jurisdictions that offer the most friendly regulatory climate for cryptocurrency companies became the leaders in the rating of countries by trading volume on exchanges. And those countries that do not have cryptocurrency legislation or have it, but it can not be called friendly to crypto companies, became leaders in the rating by trading volume on over-the-counter platforms, such as LocalBitcoins.

Malta, with $ 1.2 billion of daily trading volume on cryptocurrency exchanges, stands at the first line in the rating of countries by trading volume on exchanges. Belize and the Seychelles, , famous world offshores, follow Malta. They account for $700 million of daily cryptocurrency trading volume on exchanges each one. The top-5 also includes the US ($650 million) and South Korea ($620 million).

The rating of countries with the largest trading volume on over-the-counter platforms looks quite different. Russia tops the rating with 2000 BTC weekly trading volume on OTC platforms. The second place is occupied by the USA (1200 BTC), and China stands on the third line (600 BTC). The top-5 also includes Venezuela (560 BTC) and Nigeria (580 BTC) . It should be noted that in the rating of trading volume on exchanges, Russia occupies only the 13th line with $50 million in daily trading volume.

“Crypto exchanges are most often registered in countries with preferential taxation, and many over-the-counter trades occur in nations with low financial culture or strict tax legislation,” commented Worldcore CEO, Alexei Nasonov, who is also leading the research team.

According to Worldcore, the popularity of direct exchange methods in the countries of the second and third world, such as Russia, Nigeria, Colombia and Kenya, is largely due to the undeveloped system of non-cash exchange of fiat to cryptocurrencies through payment systems and banks.

Researchers believe that trading platforms will continue to migrate to the most crypto friendly jurisdictions, which offer such companies preferential tax regimes and a facilitated regulation frameworks.