According to Crypto.com, the number of bitcoin owners reached 219 million in December, while the number of ether owners reached 87 million.
Cryptocurrency adoption hit new milestones in 2022, with the number of cryptocurrency owners reaching 425 million during the year, a new report from Crypto.com shows.
Crypto.com published a report titled “Crypto Market Size” for the year 2022 last week. The company explained that its analysis is based on a combination of on-chain data from Bitcoin and Ethereum, survey analysis, and its own internal data.
Crypto Adoption Hits New Milestones
Regarding the total number of cryptocurrency owners globally, the firm’s Research & Information team wrote that “despite macroeconomic hurdles,” namely high inflation, conflict in Europe, on-chain disruptions of supply and the lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic:
“Cryptocurrency adoption in 2022 achieved new milestones, with the number of cryptocurrency owners reaching 425 million (December 2022).”
The total number of cryptocurrency owners worldwide grew by 39%, from 306 million to 425 million during the year, the report explains.
The report also highlights the number of Bitcoin and Ethereum owners, stating the following:
“Bitcoin (BTC) owners grew 20%, from 183 million in January to 219 million in December, representing 52% of global owners.”
BTC and ETH Ownership Growth
The strongest growth for 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 notes.
Furthermore, global investment bank Goldman Sachs, which offered its first BTC-backed loan in the same month, showed “further signs of increased interest in cryptocurrencies from Wall Street institutions,” the research team detailed.
Meanwhile, “Ethereum (ETH) owners grew 263%, from 24 million in January to 87 million in December, representing 20% of global owners,” the report continues, adding that “the main catalyst behind Ethereum’s high adoption growth rate was The Merge,” referring to the network upgrade that marked its transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof. stake consensus algorithm (PoS), and which was completed in September.
In addition to the Merger, the report states that interest from institutional investors, the momentum of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as the popularity of ETH liquid staking, also contributed to Ethereum’s high adoption rate. With the announced launch of ETH staked in March 2023, this interest is likely to grow further.
The research team also noted that “Ethereum’s monthly growth rates were higher than Bitcoin’s for the entire year, except in April.”
Another company that recently estimated the number of cryptocurrency owners globally is Triple A. The firm highlighted that “As of 2023, we estimate global cryptocurrency ownership rates to average 4.2%, with more than 420 million of cryptocurrency users around the world.”
By Audy Castaneda
