Judging by all numbers, metrics, and based on empirical evidence, the fact that the cryptocurrency market is in the midst of one of the biggest collapse cannot be denied. Total market cap of the industry has greatly diminished, and the Bitcoin price has shed a significant percentage of its value since January to this date.
However, none of those so-called facts and figures have represented significant obstacles to the renewed interest in said technology: according to a study by the Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance, which is a research center of the famous University, more people are using and holding crypto assets this year when compared to those who did it in the year 2017.
Interest in Crypto Assets is at an all-time-high Fashion
In fact, the number has essentially doubles: in 2017, there were 85 million people registered at crypto service providers, whereas in the first three quarters of the current year, the number has risen up to 139 million.
Part of that can be attributed to the financial success of the crypto industry overall to close last year: between December and January, the sudden rise of BTC, ETH, and other altcoins attracted mainstream attention in all locations. Similarly, ICO projects multiplied, and general interest in
“Combining public data and survey findings, we estimate that the total number of user accounts at service providers amounts to at least 139 million in late 2018,”
Also, verified users multiplied by seven when we compare the total amount with data from 2016, and by two if we use last year as a parameter. There were 5 million verified crypto asset holders in 2016, 18million in 2017, and the current projections have the number rising to 35 million in 2018.
“Using a combination of verified user data and the average share of ID-verified accounts described above, we also estimate there are currently at least 35 million ID-verified users globally,” the report explained.
Crypto-related Service Providers have also Shown Growth
Naturally, as the ecosystem grows, the user base is not the only agent within the industry that has gone up: crypto-related service providers, such as exchanges, have also increased in 2018 despite the bearish market.
Crpytocurrencyexchanges and wallets are now a common occurrence, and the latter
Wallets are not far behind. In fact, they have shown the most progress: those with multi-coin support “surged from 46% in 2017to 90% in 2018, with 60% of wallets currently supporting more than 3cryptoassets as opposed to only 10% in 2017.”
The Cambridge Center for Alternative Finance reports that the US Dollar still dominates crypto to fiat trading, with over 50percent of the volume. The Japanese yen follows with 21 percent.
By Andres Chavez
