In July 2020, downloads of the top 10 applications grew by 81% compared to July 2019. Less used applications grew, individually, up to 9,250% in one year.
Regarding the number of downloads, the most used applications related to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies for cell phones surpassed their highs in July 2020. Most of those applications are wallets, but there are also exchange platforms.
The company Apptopia describes Coinbase, Blockchain Wallet, Crypto.com, BRD, Trust, Luno, Binance, Bitcoin Wallet, Bitcoin Wallet (from Bitcoin.com) and Coinbase Wallet as “the top ones”. The reason for this is that they have the highest number of active users.
All of them together had 3.5 million downloads in that month. That represents an increase of 81%, compared to the same month of the previous year.
Regarding the number of active users, there was a growth of 110% between January 1st and August 19th, 2020. Coinbase and Crypto.com have the highest number of users per day (969,000 and 576,000, respectively).
Madeline Lenahan, Manager of Public Relations and Content at Apptopia, says that, at the beginning of the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in the installation of applications related to cryptocurrencies. They did not think that it would last long but were surprised to see that the trend persisted in the following months.
The change in daily routines seems to have led to more people taking an interest in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
In addition to the pandemic, Apptopia attributes these figures to the growth of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in emerging markets, particularly in some regions of Africa. One of the most crypto-friendly countries is Nigeria, where Crypto.com, for example, experienced 339% growth in the last 90 days.
Some not-so-popular applications also had explosive growth individually. This is the case of ZenGo (9,250% in a year), Tron Wallet (just over 4,000%), Yellow Card (about 2,200%), and finally, Paxful and Zebpay (close to 1,000% each).
Adem Bilican, who is a mobile app developer, commented on the report. He said that those figures made him feel happy and that “the cell phone is the way forward for blockchain and cryptocurrencies to achieve mass adoption.”
It is striking that, far from the founding ideals of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, many of the applications mentioned for their growth offer, in one way or another, custody services. In other words, they are not wallets that allow the user to have control over their private keys without the need for intermediaries.
Far from being merely a matter of ideals, this represents a fundamental security aspect. For example, a court recently ruled in favor of Coinbase, which refused to give the coins resulting from a fork of BTC to a user who deposited his cryptocurrencies on this platform.
Cell phones have become very versatile tools, allowing users to conduct transactions and keep their cryptocurrencies secure through various applications. The growing interest in cryptocurrencies globally has gone hand in hand with a large number of downloads of those applications.
By Willmen Blanco
