Residents in nations with volatile economic situations and currencies were most likely to make their payments in crypto, according to the report. These included countries in Latin America (LATAM) and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Crypto withdrawals in the LATAM region represented 67% of the total, with EMEA countries at 24%. Those from the North American region represented just 7% of the total for crypto payments. The Asia Pacific region was even lower with just a 2% share of the whole.

In terms of asset type, Bitcoin (BTC) remained the crypto of choice, making up 47% of the total. The second choice of digital asset for payments was Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) with 29%, followed by Ether (ETH) at 14%. Tether (USDT) did not make the list.

“From what we’ve seen in the field, getting paid in crypto is most attractive to three main groups of people: those who use the tool to hedge against local currency instability, those working in jurisdictions with dated local banking systems that can slow down payroll and those who are adding some crypto coin to their investment portfolio. The majority of our crypto withdrawals are coming out of LATAM and EMEA, which is likely driven by the first two use cases.”

Deel sourced the data from over 100,000 cross-border worker contracts on the platform between January and July 2022.