<p><img src="https://static2.businessinsider.com/image/60bf8991a7202d0018b8db58-1963/GettyImages-1231727725.jpg" border="0" alt="GettyImages 1231727725" data-mce-source="Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>Investors in the US saw $4.1 billion in bitcoin profits last yearnearly four times more than Chinese investorseven as the Asian superpower has the <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/east-asia-cryptocurrency-market-2020">highest volume of cryptocurrency transactions</a> in the world, <a href="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/bitcoin-gains-by-country-2020">new data from Chainalysis</a> shows.</p><p>The disparity in gains stemmed from the huge inflows that US-focused exchanges saw in the latter part of 2020. Most of the activity came from <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/coin-stock'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest">Coinbase</a>, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, which <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/coinbase-stock-price-ipo-direct-listing-trading-debut-cryptocurrency-platform-2021-4-1030304997">debuted on the Nasdaq on April 14</a>.</p><p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/60bf908b93c6fa00195e5b6b-1360/photo1chart.jpg" border="0" alt="photo1chart" data-mce-source="Chainalysis" data-link="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/bitcoin-gains-by-country-2020"></p><p>To arrive at the figures, Chainalysis tracked cryptocurrency exchange transactions, although it did not account for gains on coins yet to be withdrawn. The New York-based blockchain analysis company also acknowledged that the decentralized nature of the technology makes it difficult to determine with certainty where the deals transpired.</p><p>Looking closely, the sharp rise can be seen from October to December, the timeframe when the price of <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/btc-usd'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest'utm_source=markets&utm_medium=ingest">bitcoin</a> more than doubledand kept rising to new all-time highs.</p><p>The steepness of the US curve may also suggest that many investors in America sold at higher prices compared to those in other countries who may have held on to their cryptocurrencies more.</p><p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/60bf92b7a7202d0018b8db8e-1600/photochart2.jpg" border="0" alt="photochart2" data-mce-source="https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/bitcoin-gains-by-country-2020" data-mce-caption="Chainalysis"></p><p>The price of bitcoin exploded in the past year, catapulting into the mainstream as institutional investors from Tesla to MicroStrategy adopted the cryptocurrency. It peaked to $64,829 ahead of Coinbase's listing before losing nearly 50% of its value in the following month.</p><p>Bitcoin is trading lower Tuesday by 11.68% at $31,781.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/us-bitcoin-btc-investors-chainalysis-china-russia-crypto-profit-2020-2021-6-1030504784#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ultimate-cross-country-us-road-trip-every-state-2015-5">The shortest route for a road trip across the US to see 50 national landmarks</a></p>
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