US Crypto Economy Shrinks as Canada’s Market Expands in 2026

Chainalysis ranked Canada 10th among 117 countries for grassroots crypto adoption, while placing it second in its big money index overall.

Figures shared by blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis show that Canada’s crypto economy jumped more than 2% in the year to June 2026.

At the same time, the US economy contracted by an almost similar percentage, with the divergence coming at a time when Canadian traders are moving more toward stablecoins, and dollar-pegged tokens making up a larger portion of order-book volume than assets bought primarily to store value.

Stablecoins Take the Largest Share of Canadian Crypto Trading

In its post, Chainalysis reported that the global crypto economy shrank 1.6% during the same period. Canada moved in the opposite direction, with the firm describing it as the second-largest country in its “big money index” and ranking it 10th among 117 countries in its grassroots adoption index.

According to the firm, Canada’s share of that market grew 2.3% to $247.7 billion, while the US’s dropped by 2.2%. Everyday use appears to be part of the Canadian picture. Chainalysis described the country as having the strongest peer-to-peer crypto economy in the Group of Seven, although the figures shared did not provide a transaction total for that activity.

The composition of Canadian trading has also changed. Stablecoins accounted for 44% of crypto order-book volume in June 2026, up from 30% a year earlier, according to a separate Chainalysis post. That put them ahead of store-of-value assets, which accounted for 29%.

USDC dominated the stablecoin category, the firm added. Smart contract layer-1 assets made up 17% of the tracked volume, while payment-focused cryptocurrencies accounted for 8%. Meme coins, layer-2 tokens and other assets together represented the remaining 2%.

Dollar Tokens Gain Ground as US Crypto Flows Shift

The Canadian figures come amid a broader geographic split in crypto activity, with Chainalysis finding that the US had become a net importer of Bitcoin in 2026 for the first time since 2022, while dollar-backed stablecoins continued to flow abroad.

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“Stablecoins let users hold dollars without having a US bank account. US users generally have easier access to dollar banking, making that benefit less pressing at home,” it explained.

The report found that transfers below $10,000 remained net outbound from the US, while larger transactions moved in the opposite direction. Transfers worth more than $10 million accounted for 53,200 BTC flowing into the country.

Chainalysis also reported that 99.1% of global stablecoin order-book volume was tied to the US dollar. Its figures for tokenized real-world assets provide further context, with the market growing 135% to $36.07 billion in the period ending in the second quarter of 2026, and tokenized US Treasuries reaching $15.42 billion.