The year 2021 has been an interesting one to study once we take out the miseries of a dragging pandemic. While most industries hybernated during this period, only crypto came to work. And what a dramatic performance from the beginning of the first quarter! More interestingly the number of crypto owners increased massively during the same year. Statistics reveal that a huge percentage of global crypto owners bought their assets for the first time in 2021.
A noted research firm revealed that in 2021, the estimated global crypto ownership stands at an average of 3.9%, with over 300 million crypto users worldwide. Further, over 18,000 businesses have already made provisions for accepting cryptocurrency payments. Apart from that, they have narrowed down the following statistics for the year 2020 – 21.
Coin Market Capitalization
For a crypto-asset like Bitcoin, market capitalization (or market cap) amounts to the total value of all the coins that have been mined. This is computed by multiplying the total number of coins in circulation by the current market price of a single coin. The research on the coin market capitalization of Bitcoin revealed the following:
- Bitcoin market cap attained US$1 trillion in February 2021
- Bitcoin constituted 66% of the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies in 2020
Also Read: The Bitcoin Family: An Overview into the Decentralized Nomad Lifestyle
Top Countries
The countries with the highest number of cryptocurrencies look somewhat like this. India leading with 100 million cryptocurrency owners followed by the USA.
- India (100 million)
- USA (27 million)
- Nigeria (13 million)
- Vietnam (5.9 million)
- United Kingdom (3.3 million)
Crypto Owners Demographics
This, while the crypto owners’ demographics looked such:
- 79% male, 21% female
- 58% are aged under 34
- 82% have a Bachelor’s degree or higher
- 36% have an annual income over US$100k
Also Read: How Will the Crypto Markets Fare in 2022?
The Key Regions
Studies have further revealed that crypto adoption soared in 2021 in countries like India, Brazil, and Hong Kong with more than half of respondents starting to invest in crypto in 2021. The number of such respondents hovered around 54% in India and 51% both in Brazil and Hong Kong.
The rest of the world sees Latin America (LATAM) and the Asia Pacific (APAC) respondents actively purchasing crypto in 2021. 46% of respondents in Latin America and 45% in the Asia Pacific got their first crypto in 2021. Also, 44% of respondents in the United States and 40% in Europe started investing in 2021, according to the same report.
It is further revealed that countries such as Indonesia and Brazil are world-leading in terms of the strength of cryptocurrency investors within the general population. As per the report, 41% of respondents in both Brazil and Indonesia own crypto. This compares to only 20% in the United States, 18% in Australia, and 17% in Europe.
Crypto Tycoons
At least 6 crypto billionaires entered the league in 2021. The rise in the number of crypto billionaires is largely due to unforeseen levels of interest of the general population in this space. This is also fuelled by institutional investors, as digital currencies have touched new price records across the board. Since September 2020, the price of Bitcoin has surged from $10,128 to $50,078, the second-largest cryptocurrency in 2021. Ether has risen nearly a 1,000%, and crypto’s total market cap crossed $1 trillion for the first time to peak at $2.4 trillion in May.
Finally
Indeed, 2021 has been the year for cryptocurrency with predictions of the number of crypto owners in specific regions to double, coming true. However, as the industry emerges and matures, regulators around the world are invariably drawn to scrutinize activities in this space.
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