Crypto adoption reached a new milestone in 2022, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million in a year, a new report from Crypto.com shows. Additionally, the report reveals that bitcoin ownership reached 219 million in December, while ether ownership reached 87 million.
Cryptocurrency Adoption Reaches New Milestone
Crypto.com last week released areporttitled “Crypto Market Sizing” for 2022. The company explained that its analysis is built on a combination of Bitcoin and Ethereum on-chain data, research analysis, and proprietary internal data.
Regarding the total number of crypto owners worldwide, the company’s Research & Insights team writes that “despite macro headwinds,” namely high inflation, conflict in Europe, supply chain disruptions, and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic:
Crypto penetration reached a new milestone in 2022, with the number of crypto owners reaching 425 million (December 2022).
The overall number of crypto owners worldwide increased 39% from 306 million to 425 million in the past year, the report details.
It also notes the number of Bitcoin and Ethereum owners, stating.
Bitcoin (BTC) owners increased 20% from 183 million in January to 219 million in December, accounting for 52% of global owners.
The strongest growth in bitcoin ownership in 2022 occurred in April, when the Central African Republic (CAR) became the second country to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender, after El Salvador, the report noted. In addition, global investment bank Goldman Sachs offered its first BTC-backed loan in the same month, a “further sign of growing interest in crypto from Wall Street institutions,” the Crypto.com research team detailed.
Meanwhile, “Ethereum (ETH) ownership increased 263% from 24 million in January to 87 million in December, representing 20% of global ownership.” The report continues, “The main catalyst behind Ethereum’s high adoption growth rate was The Merge.” It adds. Additionally, the research team noted that “Ethereum’s monthly growth rate outpaced Bitcoin’s growth rate for the entire year except for April.”
Another firm that recently estimated the number of crypto owners worldwide is Triple-A. The company estimated that “as of 2023, the global crypto ownership rate averaged 4.2%, with over 420 million crypto users worldwide.” It states.
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