• The latest data shows that crypto owners grew from 432 million in January to 580 million in December 2023, representing a 34% growth.
• Crypto.com data shows that developments around ETFs as well as the launch of Bitcoin Ordinals were the main catalyst for the adoption growth.

Cryptocurrencies are going mainstream! This has been the narrative in the crypto community and data is now backing this claim. A new report compiled by cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com revealed that the number of crypto owners rose by 34% in 2023.

Data shows that 2023 began with 432 million crypto asset owners. At the end of the month, there were 580 million crypto owners. This represents a 34% growth and further means that 6.3% of the world population now owns crypto assets – Bitcoin (BTC), Ripple (XRP), Ethereum (ETH), and other digital assets. Of the total, Bitcoin holders started at 222 million and ended at 296 million in December. This represented a 33% growth.

The researchers who authored the paper revealed that there were two main catalysts for the remarkable growth. The developments around Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), and the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, which enabled non-fungible tokens. The report notes;

The main catalyst behind BTC’s adoption growth was the development in bitcoin exchange-traded funds and the introduction of the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, which enabled non-fungible tokens and fungible tokens to be minted on the Bitcoin network. Strong interest from institutional investors also contributed to the increase in BTC’s adoption,

Another notable growth was witnessed in Ethereum (ETH). The data reveals that owners increased by 39% reaching 124 million to make up 21% of the worldwide total crypto owners.

“ETH’s adoption growth was mainly driven by liquid staking after Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade, which allowed the withdrawals of staked ETH after the transition to the Proof of Stake blockchain,” the researchers explained.

Crypto Owners Ready to Ride The Bull Wave

This record growth could both explain the bullish start to the year and the subsequent price reversal. Following the approval of the highly anticipated Bitcoin spot ETF, the leading crypto asset rallied to a record high of nearly $49,000. However, these gains were unsustainable and have since seen Bitcoin retrace to find support at $40,000.

Ethereum has followed a similar path and went as far as to outperform Bitcoin during the bullish wave. At the start of the month, ETH rallied to reach a record $2,700 with many anticipating a retest of $3,000. In recent days, ETH has retraced to trade at $2,200 at the time of press.

Seemingly, part of the crypto community sold and took profit during the latest price surge. Despite this turn for the worse, experts foresee this year being bullish for the two most popular cryptocurrencies. Easily influenced by price movement, as the cryptocurrencies begin to post positive returns, crypto owners, (old and new) will flock to catch the profits.

A primary catalyst for Bitcoin to rally is the April halving. Ethereum also holds great promise ahead of a possible Ether spot ETF approval.

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