The old narrative of mass adoption and simplified user experience was revived and became the central topic during EthCC in Brussels
10 pictures to quickly understand the current Web3 adoption speed, challenges, user preferences, and see how far it is from my grandma entering the market↓
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Fifteen years after Bitcoin was launched in 2009, the number of cryptocurrency holders worldwide has surged to about 560 million.
This growth rate far exceeds the growth of the largest traditional payment networks over the past five years.
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Only 6.8% of the world’s population owns cryptocurrencies. According to Triple A research, the number of cryptocurrency holders grew by 33% to 420 million in 2023.
Of these holders, 34% are between 24 and 35 years old
Count me in
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Asia led the growth in the number of holders, increasing 21.8% from 268.2 million to 326.8 million
Growth highlights Asia’s important role in shaping the cryptocurrency landscape
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However, the figure of 560 million is a bit exaggerated, and it also includes users who hold assets in centralized exchanges (CEX) or other digital asset custodians.
According to on-chain metrics, as of 2024, the total number of monthly active addresses of the top 20 Layer1s has just exceeded 75 million
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Even if we include the monthly active addresses of the most popular Layer2s (just under 20 million), the total number of users on all major chains is only around 100 million.
It is also possible that the number of addresses may be double counted due to multiple addresses
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The new Bitcoin address indicator shows that the monthly growth rate of new addresses has slowed down to the level of 2018. This shows that on-chain activity is shrinking, which is a typical manifestation of declining network fundamentals.
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The main driver of the surge in crypto users may be the approval of a Bitcoin ETF earlier this year
Among non-crypto users, 21% said the approval had a positive impact on their investment decisions
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While crypto acceptance has been growing this year, 44% of non-crypto users still say they will never buy cryptocurrency, citing unstable value and lack of government protection as the main reasons.
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Obviously, speculation is still the main way to play Web3 and Crypto, but the average portfolio performance of new Web3 users entering after 2021 is often in the red
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PS: Interestingly, according to a 2023 study by Buy Bitcoin WorldWide, the third most popular cryptocurrency among crypto investors is $DOGE
Ranking may not include stablecoins such as USDC and USDT
Personal thoughts: Although the recent US government's friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies may affect the increase in crypto users, "stories" like $DOGE's thousand-fold increase can truly arouse the interest of users outside the circle.
So should crypto market value surge first, or should user adoption come first? It’s like the chicken or the egg question.
However, what is certain is that Web3 in 2024 is still in its early stages of development.