The University of Cambridge has published the results of the research regarding the number of unique users of cryptocurrencies. The report said that in 2016 there were only 5 million active owners of virtual currencies, with 45 million registered wallets.
This number has changed recently. In 2020, the number of users increased by 189%, but the number of wallets increased by 37%. It is showing in fact, most new users open one single wallet.
Current situation
Comparison of unique crypto-addresses with the number of users gives quite specific indicators. Since one person can have as many wallets as they like.
Nevertheless, experts from the Crypto.com platform have released a report on the number of users of virtual currencies in the world. Using those numbers for Bitcoin and Ethereum (as the largest cryptocurrencies), a special indicator was calculated. To compile this indicator, the specialists followed the trend of an increase in the number of owners of virtual assets after a certain period of time.
However, this calculation was complicated for two reasons:
- There are wallets on the Bitcoin network that often generate new addresses in order to accept coins only once.
- With the development of decentralized technologies, it became possible to store coins from different blockchains in one wallet.
During the period from June 2020 to the beginning of the current year, the maximum growth was observed in June, August and January. At the same time, there was an exponential growth in the prices of Bitcoin and Ethereum. So, for example, the increase in popularity of the decentralized finance sector in August 2020 led to an increase in the number of accepted blockchain assets.
At the same time, some analysts are confident that a new trend for the coming months was set by the fact that many large companies began to integrate the use of cryptocurrency in their operations.
For example:
In November 2020, PayPal announced integration with Bitcoin and other popular altcoins.
· News was published from investment funds Microstrategy and Grayscale, which transferred some of their assets to cryptocurrency.
Some of similar events happened during this time, and the reaction of investors was unequivocal.
The launch of virtual currencies on the PayPal platform has opened access to cryptocurrency transactions for a significant number of users. At the same time, the centralized service ensures the safety of funds and their safety, which certainly serves as an additional confidence booster.
In addition, the large-scale purchases of virtual currencies by world-famous companies have positively influenced the reputation of the entire industry. Investors received a signal that cryptocurrencies can be considered as a full-fledged tool for increasing and preserving values.
According to the Crypto.com portal, by the beginning of January 2021, there were:
· 71 million Bitcoin holders;
· 14 million users of Ethereum.
Other data showed that from mid-2020 to the beginning of this year, the number of cryptocurrency users increased from 66 to 160 million.
Thanks to the analytical methodology of Crypto.com, it is possible to obtain a fairly accurate data of what is happening. However, according to analysts, it is very difficult to calculate how many people actively use OTC trading platforms in this way. Indeed, in this case, the bulk of transactions are carried out offline, that is, outside of cryptocurrency exchanges. This means that the number of actually existing active users of virtual currencies can be significantly higher than the indicators obtained in the study.
Other expert report
Another research was conducted by Glassnode. According to the data obtained, the number of owners of virtual currencies is growing sturdily and linearly. According to experts, this is a sign of the maturity of the cryptocurrency market.
However, a recent survey by the Harris Poll found that 11% of Americans own bitcoins. And this is more than 30 million people. At the same time, another study conducted by the analytical portal Statista showed that in Europe, only 5% of the population owns bitcoins, that is, 37 million people.
If you add up the data from these two studies, it turns out that in America and Europe, more than 67 million people own cryptocurrencies. However, the real number of Bitcoin holders, according to experts, does not exceed 23.1 million users. At the same time, another 28.4 million addresses have zero balance.
The Statista published a report on the percentage of Bitcoin users on their portal by country.
This is the data at the beginning of 2020:
Thus, you can see that over the year, the number of Bitcoin users in America increased from 8% to 11%.
Here you should also pay attention to the statistics on popular services:
Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, claims to have over 50 million registered accounts (as of May 2021).
· According to Coinbase, it has over 30 million accounts.
The most famous cryptocurrency wallet Blockchain.com has about 45 million accounts.
· And the most popular multicurrency mobile wallet Trust Wallet has been downloaded by 20 million people from all over the world. These numbers may indicate the total number of bitcoin owners, the final result will depend on what exactly is meant by the word "own" bitcoin.
How many people use Bitcoin every day
According to the blockchain.com portal, the bitcoin network processes an average of about 300,000 transactions per day. And the number of addresses that send or receive bitcoin reaches 500,000 per day.
It is important to consider here that a fairly large part of bitcoin holders do not use it in any way. They only accumulate or simply keep virtual currency in their wallets. And such holders practically do not conduct any transactions, although in fact they are the owners of the cryptocurrency.
How many people know about bitcoin
Based on research from various sources, the following statistics can be collected:
In America, 90% of the population have heard at least something about Bitcoin;
· In Europe, this indicator has reached only 71%.
By country, the statistics are as follows:
· In Japan, 88% of the population knows about Bitcoin;
· In Britain - 93%;
· In Poland - 78%;
· In Austria - 79%.
And in China, 40% of the population is interested in investing in Bitcoin.
In general, it can be stated that the population of developed countries is aware of what Bitcoin is. And the above numbers indicate that at least 2 billion people in the world know something about cryptocurrencies. Of course, if we take data for other countries, then this figure will be higher, and over time it will only increase.
Below is a comparison of public awareness of cryptocurrencies, as of fall 2017 until spring 2019.
Perspectives
According to the speakers of the Bitcoin 2021 conference, held in Miami, in no more than 10 years, one should expect the peak of Bitcoin adoption in the world. At the same time, they call the given forecast "conservative". Indeed, given the high rates of development of the industry, this can happen much earlier.
Today there are quite a few of those who prefer Bitcoin. As can be seen from the data as of May of this year, 33.54 million unique addresses were recorded in interaction with the Bitcoin network. At the same time, it was especially emphasized that the bulk of the wallets contain some amount of cryptocurrency.
However, there is a layer of investors who invest in BTC and "freeze" them for an indefinite period, showing no activity.
Key representatives of the blockchain industry have no doubts that this figure will grow several times over the next few years.
When will Bitcoin conquer the world?
Industry experts Sayfiddin Ammos, who wrote the famous work of The Bitcoin Standard, and Parker Lewis, who heads the business development department of Unchained Capital, expressed their views on the time frame for which Bitcoin is destined to take over most of the world's finances.
Parker Lewis believes that this moment will have to wait no more than ten years. In his opinion, the key reason that will push people to switch to cryptocurrency will be the activities of governments. Only the fact that the Fed plans to print trillions of dollars over the next few years will lead to increase of demand for cryptocurrency. Ordinary citizens will inevitably have to look for assets that government officials cannot influence. And cryptocurrencies are very capable of taking on such a role.
The expert believes that no later than 2031, the total number of active Bitcoin users will be in the billions. And this is quite feasible, because since the formation of the virtual money industry, the number of supporters has reached tens of millions.
Saffedin Ammos's statements are more conservative. He says this will take 15-16 years. The status of the world currency by Bitcoin should be expected no earlier than 4 halving cycles.
In any case, it is already obvious that cryptocurrency has prominent place in the life of modern society, and is not going to disappear. And over time, both the number of large investors and the number of ordinary users of virtual currencies will only increase.
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