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It's explained in the graph text. It's per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, scaled so the country with the most usage by that metric is 1. So, lik

It's explained in the graph text. It's per capita, adjusted for purchasing power parity, scaled so the country with the most usage by that metric is 1. So, like individual Indians use 37% as much cryptocurrency as individual Vietnamese (adjusted for PPP). It's a good way to show comparatively where cryptocurrencies seem to have some utility as measured by the fraction of an individual's financial power.

bawolff 4y ago
But that is potentially wildly misleading given the author's position. You have no sense of magnitude. For example if vietnam had a single crypto user, and nobody else in the world used it at all, you would have a similar skewed graph, but clearly it wouldn't demonstrate utility.
- ianferrel 4y ago
  Such a graph could be misleading, and I agree that there's no information about magnitude. But I don't think it's actually misleading in this case, and we have other information available that clarifies that there is not a single Vietnamese cryptocurrency user in the world (and, I guess, 0.37 of an Indian user...?). There is a measurably large amount of cryptocurrency activity in the world, but most of our (or at least my) awareness of it is as a western techno-futurist/financial/cryptobro phenomenon. This graph is really useful in demonstrating that that's not a very accurate view. It would be very bad if it were the only datum on cryptocurrency the reader had. But that's not the audience of this article.
- bnralt 4y ago
  Particularly since the New York Times article he links to talks about crypto expats flocking to Ukraine because of lack of regulation: > Ukraine has already lured some Americans and Brits in the crypto industry, and they didn’t come because they’re sticklers about the rule of law. Instead, they rhapsodize about everything from affordable restaurants to unhinged raves. Better yet, the government has not a clue about what they are doing or how much they earn. > “There are no rules,” says Mr. Chobanian, with an odd kind of civic pride. “Well, there are rules, but you can break them. It’s the perfect balance between absolute anarchy and possibilities.” ** > Even without another revolution, Steven Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University and a vocal Bitcoin skeptic, argues that the combination of Ukraine and crypto sounds like a fiasco in the making. Most studies he’s seen have found that roughly half of all Bitcoin transactions are for some illegal purpose. To him, this is not an industry that Kyiv should target with enticements. ** > “I like that it’s corrupt here,” says Mr. Sawhney. “Here, we get to play the game that only elites in the U.S. play. I don’t need a lobbyist. I need to pay someone at the border, I can. I need to pay politicians, I can.” Framing it as just being about people trying to escape a broken financial system and nothing more ("Do Vietnamese people love trading monkey gifs? Are Ukrainians especially susceptible to Ponzi schemes? Is Venezuela laden with techbros?") is extremely misleading.

bawolff 4y ago

But that is potentially wildly misleading given the author's position. You have no sense of magnitude. For example if vietnam had a single crypto user, and nobody else in the world used it at all, you would have a similar skewed graph, but clearly it wouldn't demonstrate utility.

ianferrel 4y ago
Such a graph could be misleading, and I agree that there's no information about magnitude. But I don't think it's actually misleading in this case, and we have other information available that clarifies that there is not a single Vietnamese cryptocurrency user in the world (and, I guess, 0.37 of an Indian user...?). There is a measurably large amount of cryptocurrency activity in the world, but most of our (or at least my) awareness of it is as a western techno-futurist/financial/cryptobro phenomenon. This graph is really useful in demonstrating that that's not a very accurate view. It would be very bad if it were the only datum on cryptocurrency the reader had. But that's not the audience of this article.
bnralt 4y ago
Particularly since the New York Times article he links to talks about crypto expats flocking to Ukraine because of lack of regulation: > Ukraine has already lured some Americans and Brits in the crypto industry, and they didn’t come because they’re sticklers about the rule of law. Instead, they rhapsodize about everything from affordable restaurants to unhinged raves. Better yet, the government has not a clue about what they are doing or how much they earn. > “There are no rules,” says Mr. Chobanian, with an odd kind of civic pride. “Well, there are rules, but you can break them. It’s the perfect balance between absolute anarchy and possibilities.” ** > Even without another revolution, Steven Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University and a vocal Bitcoin skeptic, argues that the combination of Ukraine and crypto sounds like a fiasco in the making. Most studies he’s seen have found that roughly half of all Bitcoin transactions are for some illegal purpose. To him, this is not an industry that Kyiv should target with enticements. ** > “I like that it’s corrupt here,” says Mr. Sawhney. “Here, we get to play the game that only elites in the U.S. play. I don’t need a lobbyist. I need to pay someone at the border, I can. I need to pay politicians, I can.” Framing it as just being about people trying to escape a broken financial system and nothing more ("Do Vietnamese people love trading monkey gifs? Are Ukrainians especially susceptible to Ponzi schemes? Is Venezuela laden with techbros?") is extremely misleading.