Since East Asia is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market, a new report from blockchain data analytics firm Chainalysis shows. The region, which includes China, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Mongolia, South Korea, and Taiwan, accounted for about 31% of all cryptocurrency transacted in the last 12 months. In an excerpt from its upcoming 2020 Geography of Cryptocurrency report, Chainalysis explained that more cryptocurrency was sent from East Asia than other regions to foreign addresses.

“Over $50 billion traveled from East Asia addresses to addresses in other regions, compared to just over $38 billion for Western Europe, the region next in terms of value sent out of the region,” the firm revealed.

Most of the cryptocurrency outflow was from China, Chainalysis added, noting that the Chinese government only allows citizens to move an equivalent of $50,000 at the most out of the country each year. Wealthy Chinese have found some ways to circumvent the restrictions, such as via real estate and shell companies, but the authorities have been cracking down on these methods. “Cryptocurrency could be picking up some of the slack,” the firm noted, elaborating:

" Over the last twelve months, with China’s economy suffering due to trade wars and devaluation of the yuan at different points, we’ve seen over $50 billion worth of cryptocurrency move from China-based addresses to overseas addresses. "

We can think of $50 billion as the absolute ceiling for capital flight via cryptocurrency from East Asia to other regions,” the firm suggested. Relations between the U.S. and China have deteriorated to all-time lows in recent weeks as the two countries spar over issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang.