The past year marked unprecedented growth in the world of cryptocurrencies. A recent report from crypto exchange Crypto.com shows an impressive increase in global crypto users, with the number surpassing half a billion. This news comes despite the ongoing challenges such as geopolitical conflicts and economic turmoil that have plagued the crypto market in 2023.
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Crypto growth despite challenges
By 2023, the number of crypto users has risen to a staggering 580 million, a 34% increase from last year's 432 million. Global central banks tightened monetary policy in response to inflation, while ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East and the fallout from the pandemic created economic uncertainty. Despite this, cryptocurrency adoption remained extremely strong. A sign that people may look elsewhere when traditional finance is under pressure.
Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC) adoption in particular saw notable growth. The number of ETH holders increased from 89 million to 124 million, while the number of Bitcoin users increased from 222 million to almost 300 million. This increase was partly due to important network improvements.
Altcoins are also popular
Ethereum's Shanghai upgrade led to an increase in network activity and value, while the launch of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and BRC-20 tokens on the Bitcoin blockchain through the launch of Ordinals drove significant demand for Bitcoin. The fourth quarter of 2023 saw a particular surge in BTC adoption, which helped push the price to over $40,000.
The Crypto.com report, which contains data from 23 crypto exchanges, also highlights the diversity in the crypto market. Notably, 40% of Bitcoin owners also own ETH, while 42% of crypto users have neither BTC nor ETH in their portfolio, only smaller altcoins.
This signals increasing diversification within the crypto market, where users are looking for investment opportunities outside of the two largest coins. In fact, a previous forecast from Bitfinex in December 2023 suggests that the number of global crypto users could rise to 950 million by the end of 2024.
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