Kraken wallet analysis: Memecoins and new offerings flourish in Australia

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken have today released an anonymised, aggregate analysis of the composition of millions of Australian wallets on the Kraken platform. This analysis reveals how Kraken’s Australian clients are more likely to hold new memecoins, such as PEPE and WIF, compared to the exchange’s global client base, alongside other portfolio trends.

Importantly, the analysis contains no individual or specific client data, it is an analysis of trading activity and an averaged summary of total holdings to create hypothetical ‘average user’ wallets.

Trading volumes: Bitcoin maintains status as most actively traded asset while Solana surges in AU

Over a 12 month period, assessed between May 2023 to May 2024, Bitcoin remained the most actively traded cryptocurrency by Australian clients on the Kraken exchange, constituting 27.07% of all trading volumes from Australia – a figure slightly above the global average outside Australia (26.46%).

Similarly, Solana (SOL) shows significantly higher trading activity among Australians, making up 10.02% of trading volumes compared to 7.81% for non-Australian clients. This renewed interest steered Kraken to introduce a new SOL/AUD trading pair in June 2024, catering directly to Australian investors’ demand.

Ethereum comes in third, making up 9.66% of trading volumes for Australian clients, compared to 9.93% globally.

Australian Enthusiasm for Emerging Crypto Assets

Australian investors have an interesting point of divergence when it comes to meme coins in their portfolios.  Aussies are more likely to invest in newer meme coins, such as PEPE, WIF, and BONK, which diverges from global trends that favour more established meme coins like DOGE and SHIB.

While some Aussie clients may be embracing the fun and unpredictable nature of these assets, many could actually be responding to significant changes in the market. A study by crypto data aggregator CoinGecko found that the top memecoins outperformed every other category of crypto assets during Q1 of 2024, while many other non-meme coins lagged behind due to supply unlocks and negative sentiment surrounding low-float tokens. Memecoins are traditionally perceived as an unserious asset class, but acceptance of their important role in crypto portfolios has grown throughout this market cycle, as evidenced by rising institutional adoption.

Notably, 2.65% of Australian Kraken clients hold PEPE, which is nearly double Kraken’s global client average of 1.49%. The WIF token is also in 1.58% of Australian client’s compared to the global average of 0.45%. Finally, BONK also sees a higher adoption rate in Australia (1.50%) versus 0.67% globally.

Whilst DOGE and SHIB remain popular globally (at 12.40% and 5.49% of clients, respectively), Australian clients show only moderate engagement with these coins, with AU user ratios for DOGE at 6.65% and SHIB at 3.89%.

Portfolio value: Ethereum still dominates down under

Ethereum dominates the cryptocurrency portfolios of Australian clients, which accounts for 49.31% of the average AU crypto asset balance. This figure contrasts with the global average of 29.24%.

However, when examining how many individual Australian clients hold each cryptocurrency (as opposed to the above which is an average summary of total holdings), a more balanced picture emerges:

Jonathon Miller, Managing Director of Kraken Australia and Rest of World said, “Australia continues to be a vibrant and critical market for Kraken. The introduction of new trading pairs such as SOL/AUD is a direct response to the demands of our Australian customers, and we’ll continue to adapt our offerings to the unique needs of each market.

It is great to see the enthusiasm Australians are showing towards new meme coins, which are a fun and increasingly popular part of the crypto ecosystem. Australians are no stranger to venturing off the beaten track, a trait useful when navigating this ever-evolving asset class. It’s no surprise to me that fellow Aussie clients remain ahead of the curve and responsive to the latest crypto market trends.”