Cryptocurrencies are still a nascent industry comparable to the internet in the 1990s. However, its growth trajectory is incredible given the widespread adoption in a short period.
Bitcoin was the first coin that gained prominence after its creation in 2009. Since then, we have seen many cryptocurrencies hit the market.
The cryptocurrency industry continues to give us highlights by the day, including volatility and new trends almost daily.
Top 15 Cryptocurrency Statistics and Facts:
Laszlo Hanyecz was the first individual to use Bitcoin as a payment medium using 10,000 Bitcoin to buy two pizzas in Florida on May 10, 2010.
In 2010, the value of 10,000 was $40, but today the value has increased to over $38,000.
Bitcoin prices peaked in November 2021, with one Bitcoin valued at $68,789.63
Bitcoin currently ranks as the best cryptocurrency with a market dominance of 42.63%
Bitcoin’s creator is known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. It's not known whether it's an individual or a group of people.
Satoshi Nakamoto owns over one million Bitcoin.
The Dog on Dogecoin is called a Shiba Inu, a popular hunting breed in Japan.
Dogecoin’s creator, Billy Markus, tweeted that he created the meme coin in about two hours.
Ethereum ranks second by market capitalization in the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin and Monero are the most preferred cryptocurrencies on the darknet by 91% and 79%.
Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin are the top three cryptocurrencies in the US.
Coinbase was the first cryptocurrency exchange to go public on the Nasdaq
Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency globally, with an exchange volume of $7.7 trillion in 2021.
Binance has over 28 million registered users.
The total cryptocurrency market cap value on 14th March 2021 stood at $1.7 trillion.
The above facts show how far the crypto industry has come. With awareness levels increasing exponentially, It's not hard to see that cryptocurrencies will wane significant influence across different aspects of our lives.
General Cryptocurrency Statistics and Fun Facts
Bitcoin is the foremost cryptocurrency in the world by some distance. As such, let’s look at the standout facts about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin has gained 59,358% over the past nine years
In July 2013, Bitcoin traded at a low of $65.53, about four years since its launch. Presently, the price has surged to over $39,029, representing a 59,358% increase.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
Bitcoin's all-time high price was recorded on November 10th, 2021
At its peak, Bitcoin saw 105,729% growth, recording a high price of $68,789.63 in November 2021 compared to $65 in 2013. The coin’s price has since slid by about 43% to $38,000.
This significant growth has been attributed to investors considering the digital asset as a store of value, an investment tool, and a hedge against inflation.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
The total Bitcoin supply is limited to 21,000,000
There is a definite number of Bitcoin available. The creator designed the blockchain to give a finite number to mimic the finite characteristics of physical gold.
Bitcoin supply comes from “mining” that involves solving complex mathematical problems which require special equipment and lots of electricity. Apart from mining, you can also buy Bitcoin from a cryptocurrency exchange.
As of March 2022, there’ve been 18,982,975 Bitcoins issued so far, representing 90% of the total supply. There is about 2 million Bitcoin yet to be released. The last coin is likely to be mined in the year 2140.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
It takes 10 minutes to mine a Bitcoin block
It takes an average of 10 minutes to mine each Bitcoin block and get the 6.25 block reward.
Many miners are competing for this block reward. The more the number of miners, the higher the hash rate, which increases the mining difficulty.
(Source: gfinityesports)
There are over 10,000 cryptocurrencies.
From just a handful of cryptocurrencies in 2013, the number of cryptocurrencies has exploded to over 10,000, with many more being launched daily.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
There are over 2 million Bitcoin lost forever
Data shows that the estimated number of Bitcoin lost ranges between 2.78 million and 3.79 million.
(source: Chainalysis)
Bitcoin’s highest market capitalization peaked in November 2021 at over $1 trillion.
November 2021 saw Bitcoin cross over the $1 trillion mark. The total crypto market cap was north of $3 trillion during this period. The market had soared fivefold since November of 2020.
In February 2022, Bitcoin’s highest market cap stood at $857 billion.
(source: Coinmarketcap)
Global search interest for Bitcoin stood at 60% in 2021
Bitcoin had the highest search rate globally at 60%, underscoring its popularity globally. Ethereum came second at 13%.
The search rates were highest in El Salvador at 98%, which declared Bitcoin as a legal tender in 2021. Nigeria came in second at 76.2%, while Hong Kong came third at 76%.
(Source: Blockchain center)
There are over 106 million Bitcoin owners globally
There were also about 400,000 Bitcoin users daily in 2021. Between them, they managed 53 million trades.
(Source: buybitcoinworldwide)
About 46 million Americans have owned Bitcoin.
Forty-six million Americans have owned or currently own Bitcoin. Americans considered Bitcoin synonymous with cryptocurrencies. 95% of crypto owners and crypto-curious individuals have heard of Bitcoin.
(Source: TripleA, Gemini)
Australia leads by the share of Bitcoin holders globally
The survey was conducted among internet users and cryptocurrency holders. The land down under led the way among 27 countries in the survey by 72%. South Africa came in second at 54%.
(Source: Finder)
Satoshi Nakamoto owns the most Bitcoin.
The anonymous individual or group mined over 22,000 blocks and got over one million in block rewards. This means that Satoshi owns more than a million Bitcoin currently valued at over $38 billion.
Grayscale, a global investment holding, owns about 3.4% of the total circulating supply of Bitcoin. Private investors hold about 8% of the total Bitcoin supply in circulation.
(source: Bitcoin Treasuries)
Monero(XMR) transactions grew from 10,000tx to 20,000tx per day in 2021
XMR is primarily used in darknet marketplaces. It is preferred in the darknet due to its privacy-centric characteristic.
(Source: getMonero)
Cryptocurrency Adoption Rates by Country
A majority of countries globally consider cryptocurrencies legal. Some have outrightly banned cryptocurrencies, while in others, legislations are not clear. Surveys have been conducted to try and discover where cryptocurrencies adoption is high. Here are some interesting facts.
Global cryptocurrency adoption rose by 880%
Cryptocurrency adoption rates increased globally by 880% in 2021. The increase was also significant between 2019 and 2020, increasing by 2,300%.
(Source: Chainalysis)
The UK, Greece, France, and Switzerland lead in cryptocurrency adoption in Europe, with over 10% adoption rates.
Cryptocurrencies uptake in the UK and Switzerland are buoyed by large hedge funds.
France leads in adoption among individuals, with a survey placing adoption rates at 12%. Adoption rates in Greece stood at 11% in 2021.
(Source: Statista)
English speaking countries lead in the adoption of cryptocurrencies
Apart from the UK, the US and Australia are also leaders in cryptocurrency adoption.
A survey puts adoption rates in the US at 14%. These are individuals who have invested in, traded, or used cryptocurrencies.
Australia's adoption rates stand at 15%, while 9.8 million individuals own cryptocurrencies in the UK.
(Source: Chainalysis, Finder)
Australia and the USA lead in Dogecoin adoption.
The meme coin saw increased adoption in 2021. A third of crypto owners in the US own DOGE.
The adoption rates in the US stood at 31%. DOGE was the third most popular cryptocurrency in Australia. About 29% of crypto owners owned DOGE in the country.
(Source: Finder)
Emerging and developing economies lead in the adoption of cryptocurrencies
Emerging and developing countries have seen tremendous growth in cryptocurrencies adoption in 2021. Traders in these countries hold crypto as an investment and as a way to shield their assets from high inflation.
Data puts Vietnam, India, and Pakistan as the leaders in crypto adoption. The data was collected among individual crypto owners. The survey put the US at position eight and China at 13th.
(Source: Chainalysis)
China banned cryptocurrency transactions and mining in 2021
The ban hit cryptocurrency trading and mining activities hard in September 2021. At its peak, China contributed between 65% to 75% of the global cryptocurrency mining.
Research still puts active cryptocurrency miners' IP addresses at 109,000.
Chinese miners used vast mining farms, which required substantial amounts of electricity. The country was also a leading producer of mining equipment.
(Source: CNBC)
The US is leading in the global Bitcoin network hash rate at 35.4%
The US usurped China following the ban on mining activities in China. Kazakhstan accounted for 18.1%, while Russia accounted for 11% of the global Bitcoin network hash rate.
(Source: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index)
Bitcoin is the most popular cryptocurrency in the US, with adoption levels at 44.5% among crypto owners.
Ethereum was the second most popular crypto asset among crypto owners at 31.7%. Dogecoin, Solana, and Ripple made the top 5 popular crypto assets in the US.
(Source: Finder)
Australia leads in the adoption of Cardano (ADA) at 26.4%
The survey checked the popular cryptocurrencies among internet users in Australia. ADA accounted for 26.4%, the third most popular cryptocurrency in the country.
(Source: Finder)
Ripple (XRP) adoption rates are high in East Asia, with Japan leading with 31.5%
Ripple is primarily considered a remittance solution in this part of the world. Many retail investors own XRP, and its significant trading in Asia influences its price in the international market.
Japan leads in adoption levels at 31.5%, followed by Indonesia at 24.9%. Singapore and the Philippines follow suit at 23.4% and 21.1%, respectively. XRP is considered a crypto asset with high potential considering its currently trading for under a dollar but occupies position six by market cap.
(Source: Finder)
There are 36,381 Bitcoin ATMs globally
The US has the largest number of Bitcoins ATMs at 32,456, accounting for 89.2% of the total installed machines globally.
Canada comes in second with 2,361 while Spain comes in third at 220. The number of these ATMs in the US is 14 times more than those in Canada, showing a considerable rift between the world and the US.
(Source: Coinatmradar)
Bitcoin ATMs support other cryptocurrencies apart from Bitcoin
It is widely thought that Bitcoin ATMs support the buying and selling of Bitcoin only. However, some of them can enable users to buy and sell Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin.
(Source: Coinatmradar)
Cryptocurrency trading activities are banned in China and 50 other countries.
Some countries have outrightly banned cryptocurrency activities or severely limited them in the past few years.
The standout country that banned cryptocurrency activities and formerly wielded a lot of influence on the cryptocurrency industry includes China.
The Chinese government ban in 2021 put a dent in cryptocurrency prices and mining. Other notable countries with cryptocurrency bans include Egypt and Qatar.
(Source: Fortune)
Statistics About Crypto Providers
Crypto providers are platforms where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. They include exchanges, peer-to-peer exchanges, brokers, and decentralized exchanges. Here are fun facts about crypto providers.
Binance is the largest crypto provider with an exchange volume of $7.7 trillion.
Binance boasts of the widest array of cryptocurrencies, including its own coin, Binance Coin (BNB). BNB currently ranks 4th by market cap on the cryptocurrency market.
Binance’s spot trading value for 2021 was seven times more than the value in 2020. The exchange achieved a peak 24-hour trading volume of $76 billion.
(Source: businessofapps)
Coinbase is the second-best cryptocurrency globally, with over 56 million people.
Coinbase is considered a beginner-friendly platform where investors can purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other digital assets.
The monthly active user average for the exchange stood at 8.8 million in 2021. The company is valued at $65 billion.
(Source: businessofapps)
There are over 584 exchanges globally.
The increased popularity of cryptocurrencies has led to an increase in the number of crypto providers.
(Source: CoinGecko)
Cryptocurrency Security Statistics
Security is among the top-most concerns for those who use cryptocurrency. Since it's still a novel technology, many users and platforms don’t take adequate measures to protect their digital assets. Exchanges also form a single focus point for malicious attempts at stealing cryptocurrencies. Here are some facts shedding light on security in the cryptocurrency market.
Scammers took home a record $14 billion in cryptocurrency in 2021
Scams were attributed to the increase in malicious attempts on DeFi platforms. The spike in theft resulted in a 79% increase in losses from crypto-related scams.
According to the source, most cryptocurrency-related crimes result from scamming and cryptocurrency theft.
Code vulnerabilities also provided hackers with ways to exploit DeFi applications. Reports state that 21% of all hacks in 2021 were attributed to code vulnerabilities exploit.
(Source: Chainalysis)
Cryptocurrency theft increased by 516% in 2021.
Theft of cryptocurrency resulted in a loss of $3.2 billion worth of digital assets from 2020.
About $2.3 billion of this amount was stolen from DeFi protocols.
(Source: Chainalysis)
About $2.8 billion was stolen through rug pull schemes in 2021
Rug pulls are popular theft schemes that cryptocurrency project developers typically perpetrate.
At first, the project developers establish and build legitimate cryptocurrency projects. After people invest their cash in the project, the developers disappear with investors’ funds.
(Source: Chainalysis)
The volume of cryptojacking quadrupled in 2021 compared to 2020
The level of cryptojacking in 2021 far outpaces that in 2020, with attacks increasing fourfold.
(Source: Crowdstrike)
The US Internal Revenue Service(IRS) Criminal Investigation agency seized $3.5 billion in 2021 worth of cryptocurrencies
The win for the taxation agency in the US resulted from non-taxation investigations in illegal cryptocurrency activities.
(Source: Chainalysis)
Statistics on Cryptocurrency Heists
Reports periodically surface how a crypto provider has been hacked or about attempts. The susceptibility of crypto providers emanates from the fact that they represent central custody for a lot of digital wealth and funds.
Heists typically arise from system vulnerabilities resulting in hacks, theft, exploits, and flash loan exploits. Here are some top statistics about crypto theft.
The actual value of digital assets stolen is $5 billion
Crypto heists continue to unravel daily. Many people rely on third parties to store their cryptocurrencies, fall for scams, or become victims when providers get hacked.
It’s estimated that the real value of crypto assets stolen in today's value is north of $66 billion.
(Source: Chainalysis)
The Poly Network was attacked, and $610 million was stolen
The platform in the DeFi space was involved in one of the biggest crypto hacks to date. The attacker exploited vulnerabilities on the Poly Network system.
The hack was discovered in August 2021, with more than $600 million in tokens missing. However, in good faith, the hacker didn't make away with his loot. After a standoff, the platform got the funds back but paid the hacker $500,000. After the fiasco, the platform offered the hacker a job!
(Source: CNBC)
$534 million was stolen in the Coincheck hack in January 2018
NEM (XEM) tokens worth $534 million were stolen from the Japan-based crypto provider. The tokens were stored in a hot wallet, meaning they were online. This enabled the hacker to get access to these tokens and steal them.
After the news, XEM tumbled in value resulting in massive losses for investors.
(Source: BBC)
$470 million stolen from Mt Gox
The Mt. Gox hack put the spotlight on the vulnerabilities crypto providers may have. The hack was discovered in 2014, and it was the first large-scale attack ever reported.
Cumulatively, hackers stole 850,000 Bitcoin, 100,000 from the exchange, and 750,000 from customers. The hack happened over three years, from 2011 up to 2014.
The 850,000 Bitcoin stolen would be valued at $32.3 billion by today’s value. Other notable hacks included the $281 KuCoin hack in 2020 and the Pancake Bunny flash loan attack in 2021, where $200 million was lost.
(Source: Coinmarketcap)
Statistics on Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
There is an accelerated shift from centralized finance to a more decentralized and permissionless way of offering financial products.
DeFi has brought about stablecoins, borrowing, lending, Non Fungible Tokens(NFTs) marketplaces, Gaming, payments, and market predictions in decentralized forms. There has been expansive growth fueled by innovative products and integrating protocols and systems. Here are some facts about DeFi.
DeFi transactions volume grew by 912% in 2021
The staggering growth resulted from the cutting-edge solutions provided by DeFi.
With smart contracts, DeFi applications replace lawyers and other central intermediaries, making finance decentralization real.
(Source: Chainalysis)
Decentralized exchanges(DEX) grew by over 50% from December 2020 to March 2021
DEX volume increased from $23 billion to over $63 billion, a 2.7 times increase.
(Source: consensys)
Outstanding Loans in DeFi increased by three times in 2021
Some DeFi platforms seek to provide more affordable loans. The loan book increased from $3.6 billion to $10.8 million for the first three months of 2021.
Approximately $3.3 billion worth of assets in dollars was borrowed in Q1 of 2021.
(Source: consensys)
The Total Value Locked(TVL) locked in DeFi was $170 billion in 2021
The TVL in DeFi has grown by 38 times since September 2020.
(Source: Chainalysis)
NFTs grew 9 times in Q1 2021
The total value of the NFT crypto market grew from $52 million to $490 million. About 151,977 artworks were sold on the top five NFT marketplaces in 2021.
(Source: consensys)
The Future of the Cryptocurrency Industry - Statistics and Trends
It is now clear that cryptocurrencies are here to stay. Digital assets like Bitcoin are already going mainstream liberalizing how people use their finances. Here are some forecasts about the cryptocurrency industry.
Forecasts put Bitcoin price at over $1,000,000
Bitcoin has seen incredible price rallies over the past years, from lowly prices of $65 to highs of over $68,000.
Experts estimate that the price of Bitcoin will continue to increase and may break the $1 million mark in 2030.
(Source: priceprediction)
The cryptocurrency market will triple by 2030
The cryptocurrency market is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.8% up to 2030.
The market size was estimated to be $1.49 billion in 2020. The market is predicted to hit $4.94 billion in 2030.
(Source: Allied Market Research)
The price of Dogecoin is estimated to reach $2 in 2030
The meme coin has grown exponentially and is expected to cross the $2 mark in 2030. Currently, the DOGE is priced at $0.11.
(Source: Priceprediction)
Cryptocurrencies and the Environment
Countries have realized the impact cryptocurrency mining has on energy sources and carbon dioxide production. Electricity consumption has increased rapidly in recent years as the number of cryptocurrencies increased. Developers are also trying to make their blockchain projects more environmentally friendly.
Bitcoin mining consumes more than 122 terawatt-hours of electricity yearly.
The amount used in Bitcoin mining annually is greater than what is used in Finland, which has a population of 5.5 million.
(Source: businessinsider)
The carbon footprint from Bitcoin mining is 37 megatons of carbon dioxide every year.
The carbon footprint from Bitcoin mining is equivalent to that of New Zealand.
(Source: CNBC)
Mining a Bitcoin block gobbles up 2,177 kilowatts of electricity
The amount of electricity used to mine a Bitcoin block successfully could power a standard American home for 74 days.
(Source: digiconomist)
The carbon footprint from a single Bitcoin transaction is 1,211Kg of carbon dioxide.
This is comparable to the carbon footprint for more than 2,600,000 visa transactions or 201,880 hours of watching Youtube.
(Source: digiconomist)
Mining Ethereum produces over 62.84 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Ethereum is another crypto that miners love due to its relatively high price. The carbon footprint produced from mining Ether is equivalent to that produced in Serbia and Montenegro.
The power that Ethereum mining consumes per year is comparable to power used in the Netherlands annually at 112.6 terawatts per hour.
(Source: digiconomist)
Statistics About Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC)
CBDCs are virtual currencies backed and issued by central banks. They are modeled after cryptocurrencies, and most governments are considering them in light of cryptocurrencies' success.
The number of countries considering CBDC has grown exponentially over the past two years.
At least 91 countries are working on a CBDCs project currently. This represents a 160% increase from 2020 when only 35 countries were interested in CBDC.
(Source: Atlanticouncil)
There are 40 countries where CBDC is still in the research phase, including most of Europe, the US, and the UK.
However, Russia and India have completed research and are piloting their CBDCs.
Nine other countries, including the Bahamas and Nigeria, have already launched CBDCs.
(Source: Atlanticouncil)
