Newsflash: cryptocurrencies are now officially in the mainstream consciousness, and crypto trends show that they have many different applications worldwide.

Crypto has indeed been a game-changer in the financial space and the digital world, from straightforward stuff like ATMs to exciting, innovative new developments like video games.

We’ve come a long way since the times when the idea of digital and decentralized currency options only existed on a white paper and only attracted a select few forum dwellers. 

Cryptocurrencies are now ubiquitous and give traditional options a run for their money. Here are some genuinely astounding crypto trends, facts, and numbers to show just how far we’ve come.

20 Crypto Trends You Need to Know in 2022

1. There Are Now Over 10,000 Cryptocurrencies in the World

It’s not just the consumer side that is growing at an exponential rate: thanks to the relative ease of creating your own cryptocurrency, the number of offerings has also skyrocketed over time.

From a humble 66 crypto options in 2013, we flew to 4 500 in 2021 and more than doubled this number (10 397) by February 2022.

2. The Biggest Bitcoin Transaction in History Was $1.1 Billion

In April 2020, a 146 500 BTC transfer made a huge splash in the crypto community. It turns out that it was rather mundane: it was a transaction between two wallets of Bitfinex, a crypto exchange. It only cost $0.68 to move all that money around!

3. Bitcoin’s Value Increased by 19200% Between October 2013 and March 2022

You read that right: from 196.02$ to 38 442.99$, it’s been an eventful and exciting journey with no doubt more twists and turns to come.

4. Some of the Most Important Companies in the World Accept Cryptocurrency Payments

In one of the most impactful news releases last year, companies like MasterCard, Tesla, Mellon and BNY Mellon joined the crypto revolution by announcing their adoption of bitcoin as a payment option.

5. The Sports Betting Industry Is One of the Fastest Adopters of Crypto

The fast and secure payment options made available by cryptocurrencies broke new boundaries in the sports betting industry, allowing innovative companies to expand their horizons and offer their services to wider markets worldwide.

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The top online sportsbooks in the USA have all gotten in on the act, and more actors in the space are likely to follow as the field continues to grow.

6. The Top 2000 Bitcoin Owners Own 42% Of All Bitcoin

According to the Bitcoin Rich List, only 85 000 people have an address richer than 1 million dollars. Only 84 have more than 10 000 BTC to their name. The fact that we have no idea who they are adds a lot to the intrigue of this unequal distribution.

7. The First Cryptocurrency Was Created in 1983

An American cryptographer called David Chaum created the first untraceable digital currency known as “ecash” (how innovative, right?). He is known as the godfather of cryptocurrency, and he is still active in the crypto world. Last year, he published a working paper for the Swiss National Bank titled “How to issue a central bank digital currency.”

8. It Takes Around Ten Minutes to Verify Every Bitcoin Transaction

Per Coin Central, this is the time required to verify every transaction in a block before it is added to the blockchain.

9. El Salvador Is the First Country in the World to Accept Bitcoin as Legal Tender

The Central American nation aims to become the leader in the financial revolution by becoming the first in line to “make crypto official,” so to speak.

It’s no surprise that confidence in bitcoin facts has increased in the country, though most of the average users just took out the tiny amount of BTC they got from one of the nation’s 200 Bitcoin ATMs and haven’t looked back since.

10. The United States Has Over 85% Of the World’s Bitcoin ATMs

86.4% as of September 2021, to be precise, with Canada in a distant second place with 6.6 percent. In this respect, they’re leading the world regarding crypto adoption on a user level.

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11. Over 300 Million People Own Some Sort of Cryptocurrency

According to 2022 stats, almost 4 percent of people worldwide own some sort of cryptocurrency in the world (meaning the average ownership rate).

Suppose you’d put all crypto owners into a nation of their own. In that case, we’d make the fourth-largest country on the planet behind China (1.4 billion people), India (1.3 billion) and the USA (331 million)!

12. Dogecoin Is the Tenth Biggest Cryptocurrency in the World

With a total market cap of $15.7 billion (meaning a market share of 1.34%), the good doggie is just behind Polkadot and Binance USD. It made the top ten in February 2022, only to fall out shortly after that. Thanks, Elon Musk!

13. Cryptocurrencies in Video Games Are Quickly Becoming the Norm

The concept of “play-to-earn” is now one of the biggest buzzwords in the video game industry, with a wide variety of excellent titles aimed to reward the players for their time with something of tangible value, items and tokens that can be sold on digital marketplaces without the sort of strings game developers normally attach to these things.

True ownership and decentralized assets: just like with the pieces in a tabletop game, you can use them for anything you’d like! 

14. Males Dominate the Crypto Market

According to market research, 85% of bitcoin traders and 88% of Ethereum traders have a Y chromosome.

15. Bitcoin Mining Has Different Costs Depending on Where You Are in the World

Even though we’re talking about a digital and decentralized currency, ultimately, we’re still on Planet Earth. Paltry matters like the price of electricity and the availability of mining rigs can make a huge difference in a miner’s profit margins.

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For instance, the electric bill in Germany would be ten times as much as in China for the same amount of usage! It’s no surprise that China was by far the biggest miner country in the world.

16. China Is by Far the Biggest Miner Country in the World

Well, duh! Not only are the conditions perfect, but they also produce the equipment used to do the job. Per BuyBitcoin Worldwide, they have an over 50% global hash rate.

17. China Is Looking to Introduce Its Own Cryptocurrency

Per WARC, the Central Bank of China aims to make a bold play for a spot at the table in the crypto world with the ultimate goal of displacing the dollar with something altogether more suitable to them in the form of electronic money.

18. On Average, a Bitcoin Token Is Held for 3.2 Years

Despite the insane bull rush in late 2020/early 2021 and the (relative) crash that followed, it’s no coincidence that HODL became such a popular meme in the crypto community. For many, it’s part investment, part belief system!

19. A Single Ethereum Transaction Uses 262 KWH

This is around as much as what a regular US household uses up in an entire week. Ethereum 2.0 upgrades are meant to reduce this environmental impact going forward significantly.

20. Every Three Seconds, Someone Makes a Social Media Post About Bitcoin

There is simply no getting away from the fact that cryptocurrency culture is strongly linked to the internet and social media.

Summarizing: Crypto Trends 2022 

Astonishing, isn’t it? The crypto world is rapidly expanding by the day, and these crypto trends show that it has never been a better time to get involved in the ever-widening horizons it has to offer. 

From Bitcoin and Ethereum to niche offerings and unique products, not to mention the exciting augmentations to existing financial products, cryptocurrencies have changed the world as we know it.

The revolution shows no signs of stopping, and there can be no doubt that the eye-popping crypto trends we’ve just discussed will get even larger by 2023. It seems like the future is both digital and decentralized.