US bitcoin investors saw quadruple the gains of their Chinese peers in 2020, even though China has the world's highest crypto transaction volume, new study shows

• US investors gained $4.1 billion in bitcoin profits last year - nearly four times more than the Chinese, said Chainalysis.
• This, despite the Asian superpower having the highest volume of cryptocurrency transactions in the world.
• The disparity in gains stemmed from the huge inflows that US-focused exchanges saw in 2020.

Investors in the US saw $4.1 billion in bitcoin profits last year - nearly four times more than Chinese investors - even as the Asian superpower has the highest volume of cryptocurrency transactions in the world, new data from Chainalysis shows.

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 Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, which debuted on the Nasdaq on April 14.

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Chainalysis tracked cryptocurrency exchange transactions, although it did not account for gains on coins yet to be withdrawn.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.

Looking closely, the sharp rise can be seen from October to December, the timeframe when the price of bitcoin more than doubled - and kept rising to new all-time highs.

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.

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.

Bitcoin is trading lower Tuesday by 11.68% at $31,781.