By George Ward
According to a report from a popular media outlet, Portugal News, despite the rapid expansion of the country’s crypto industry, the attitude of residents towards digital assets remains relatively low compared to the global average. The current metrics show that Portugal is lagging behind countries like India, UAE, the US, and China regarding global crypto adoption.
A Cautious Approach To Crypto Adoption
Triple-A, a licensed crypto payment platform, reported that approximately 268,000 individuals in Portugal, accounting for 2.6% of the country’s population, actively engage in digital currency investments. While this demonstrates a significant level of adoption, it falls below the global average, indicating a cautious approach by the residents toward crypto investments.
This data becomes more meaningful when compared to countries like the United Arab Emirates, China, India, and the United States, where a larger percentage of their populations have digital asset investments. Nevertheless, the report claimed that the crypto investment landscape in Portugal had experienced a consistent upswing, fueled by increased knowledge and technological progress.
Furthermore, experts believe the reasons for this surge include friendly crypto tax rates, the influx of Web3 startups, and a growing recognition of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate investment tool. However, the Portugal News argues that the relatively low number of crypto investors in the country was due to the entry barriers prospective investors face.
Meanwhile, the country’s authorities took a progressive stance on crypto taxation earlier this year. It implemented new tax guidelines for the digital asset industry.
The new crypto tax rule clarifies the country’s expectations from the industry. Regarding tax regulations, Portugal sees crypto assets as “any digitally represented value or rights that can be electronically transferred or stored via distributed ledger technology.”
However, this definition does not include unique and non-fungible crypto assets. Hence, these non-fungible crypto assets are not subject to taxation like cryptocurrencies.
Furthermore, the rules regarding income taxation derived from professional or business activities involving crypto assets are relatively lenient. Only 15% of such income will be subjected to taxation, except for crypto mining activities, which incur a significantly higher tax rate of 95%.
Comparison With Other Countries
Over the past decade, the number of foreign residents in Portugal has risen nearly 40%, partly due to the country’s favorable crypto tax policies. While this steady expansion of its crypto industry suggests a promising future, there remains significant untapped potential for further development and broader acceptance of the virtual currency.
Meanwhile, the UAE leads the global charts regarding crypto adoption, with 27.67% of its population owning crypto assets. Countries with massive crypto adoption rates include Vietnam, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the United States, Ukraine, Iran, and Venezuela.
Curiously, each of these countries has distinct factors and dynamics driving the adoption of cryptocurrencies within their jurisdictions.