There are now 580 million crypto holders worldwide, new report finds
The number of crypto owners around the world has hit 580 million, according to a new report from Crypto.com.
Overall, the figure represents a 34% increase in crypto owners, jumping to 580 million from 432 million at the start of last year. The report noted that the growth in new users continued despite (or perhaps because of) monetary tightening in the U.S. to curb inflation, the wars in Ukraine and Israel/Palestine and the economic fallout of the pandemic.
Users were enticed by several factors, ranging from Ethereum’s network upgrade to the quick success of Bitcoin Ordinals. Additionally, anticipation around the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) possibly approving 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also spurred a jump in new crypto investors, per the report.
The ETF approvals were seen by many crypto advocates as something that would spur mainstream investment and create more avenues for traditional Wall Street players to introduce Americans into the volatile crypto market, especially as giants like Fidelity and BlackRock (the largest asset manager in the world) sought to offer them.
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The company also pointed out that slightly more than half (51%) of the world’s crypto owners have bitcoin in their holdings, accounting for a 33% growth in the number of owners retaining the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Similarly, the number of people holding the world’s second-largest crypto (ethereum) reached 89 million, with almost a quarter of the globe’s crypto owners now possessing ethereum holdings.
“This past year is another important, foundational year for the entire crypto community,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, alongside the report. “Once again despite headwinds and challenges, the industry proved resilient and is well-positioned for mass adoption.”
According to the 2023 Global Crypto Adoption Index from Chainalysis, last year saw a marked decrease in the number of new investors in the crypto space, except in lower- and middle-income countries like India, Nigeria and Ukraine, which all appeared in the top-five countries leading global crypto adoption last year.
