We hear about cryptocurrency every day. From the talks of train station commuters to office workers on a noon break inside a restaurant–it is everywhere.
When Satoshi Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin in 2008, cryptocurrency seemed like a concept incomprehensible to the public at large.
But that is not the case any longer. Crypto has officially become the talk of the 21st century.
But do we know how many people use cryptocurrency, exactly?
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How Many People Use Cryptocurrency in 2024?
We already know that crypto has become a ubiquitous term across the world today.
However, for people who plan to take this investment path seriously, it is important to know exactly how many people use cryptocurrency in 2024.
There are around 300 million crypto users worldwide, representing roughly 4.0% of the total global population. This threshold is a sharp jump from only 5 million users in 2016.
The upward momentum started in the third quarter of 2020. During that time, worldwide cryptocurrency jumped to 101 million from 35 million in 2018.
Where are the Crypto Users At?
Crypto stats show that there is an even distribution of crypto users across the six continents. We see a greater user count in countries where governmental support is available for digital assets.
India, the United States, Nigeria, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom have the biggest crypto populations.
India is on the top with 100 million crypto users. The United States follows with 40 million American users.
Meanwhile, 13 million Nigerians, 6 million Vietnamese, and 3.3 million Brits are trading, holding, and using crypto in 2022.
Demographics of Crypto Users
Men hold 79% of the total crypto market share while women hold the other 21%.
Surveys show that nearly 60% are aged 34 years old below and more than 80% are Bachelor’s Degree holders.
Cryptocurrency’s Market Cap
As mentioned, millions of people are now inclined to digital asset investing. Overall, the global crypto market surpassed $3 trillion in market capitalization in November 2021.
This is an exponential growth from its $14 billion value in 2016.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is currently $1.86 trillion, down from all-time highs. Around $78.00 billion worth of coins exchanged hands in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin remains the dominant player as it holds 42.13% of the total market share.
Why Do So Many People Use Crypto?
Aside from increased institutional support, there are three main reasons behind the market’s increased attention to crypto.
Among these is its promise of a more efficient remittance mechanism through offering a direct payment approach.
Similarly, crypto trading comes with lucrative profit potential and there is also a growing merchant acceptance for the asset.
Ditch the Transaction Fee
Cryptocurrency has many uses and advantages but the most prominent of which is in money remittance.
The main objective of cryptocurrency is to achieve a decentralized economy where there is an absence of control from third parties and legal authorities.
As there is a direct agreement between the transacting parties, crypto eliminates the need for banks on payment transactions.
Often, banks charge a sizeable amount for million-dollar transfers aside from the fact that there is a long processing time.
Using crypto as a payment medium eliminates both of these red tapes. A recent Litecoin transaction worth $100 million took less than three minutes to complete.
The best part? There is only a $0.40 transaction fee for this high-profile transfer.
Lucrative Investment Choice
Second, cryptocurrency is a lucrative investment choice. One of the most popular altcoins, Ethereum, recorded a 141.51% year-on-year gain.
This means that its price increased by this percentage compared to the same period one year ago.
Ethereum’s price leap is comparatively higher versus the best-performing stocks in the S&P 500 index. Tesla has quite a great streak last year but its year-over-year gain is only at 35.13%.
Growing Acceptance Among Merchants
Today, it is very common to see places with flashing signs: “Bitcoin payments accepted here.”
You can use cryptocurrency for purchasing movie tickets on AMC Entertainment, buying organic eggs from WholeFoods, and even getting your morning americano in Starbucks.
You can even use it to score your first electric vehicle from Tesla.
Leading retailers worldwide are beginning to accept crypto as a payment method like any fiat currency. This growth in real-world utility is one of the fundamental drivers of prices.
Greater merchant acceptance increases consumer confidence incrypto. Since there is only a limited supply of most altcoins, the more use people them for payments, the more valuable they get.
How Many Cryptocurrencies Are There?
We have seen a record-breaking number of initial coin offerings (ICO) from 2020 to 2021. ICO is a process similar to initial public offering in stocks.
It is a crypto company’s way of crowdfunding to raise money in creating a new coin, app, or service in the decentralized space.
There are now over 9,000 cryptocurrency coins and 19,000 trading pairs available today.
The top ten (10) coins by market capitalization are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, BNB, USD Coin, XRP, Terra, Cardano, Solana, and Avalance.
These coins collectively make up more than 85% of the market’s total value.
How Many Crypto Exchanges Are There?
Since there is a growth in user momentum, many crypto exchanges want to get a piece of the pie.
We now have 600 crypto exchanges worldwide, each offering different trading policies, trading bots, reward mechanisms, and services.
Among the top-performing platforms in terms of market volume is Binance. It holds the top spot with 24 million weekly visits.
Binance is followed by FTX, Coinbase Exchange, Kraken, and KuCoin.
Where is Crypto Headed
2021 was undeniably one of the best years for crypto.
However, many coins started trading sideways thisyear due to a combination of bearish sentiment, geopolitical tensions, and stricter government regulations in some countries.
On the other hand, experts predict that we will see more institutional acceptance for crypto as a payment method this year.
There is a decreased volatility coming from greater market acceptance. This will eliminate high speculations and more stable coin prices in return.
How Many People Use Cryptocurrency: Final Thoughts
Normalization of digital asset investment and usage directly correlates with how many people use cryptocurrency in 2024.
Crypto now has 300 million worldwide users and growing. It has gone a long way from being an internet nobody to becoming the investment superstar that it is today.
Due to its potential, we are looking forward to seeing more milestones coming.
1 thought on “How Many People Use Cryptocurrency in 2024?”
No matter how the crypt fluctuates, it seems to me that the future belongs to it! The future belongs to a single currency, for the whole world!