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Ethereum Adoption Statistics That Will Surprise You

Staff Writer
Staff Writer
February 16th, 2023
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Ethereum (ETH) is at the center of focus as cryptocurrency adoption gathers steam globally. Speculators, developers, and enthusiasts believe that it's a valuable altcoin with real-world use cases.

Ethereum was launched in 2015 and traded for under a dollar for quite some time— prices have since soared. Some traders prefer to buy Ethereum because it's cheaper than Bitcoin while the two have a close price correlation.

While the Ethereum blockchain was closely modelled after Bitcoin’s, the Ethereum blockchain ecosystem went a step further and now supports a wide array of applications. Despite this, Ethereum has always remained in Bitcoin’s shadow although experts see Ethereum coming to maturity soon.

Currently, the Ethereum ecosystem is rapidly growing, powering thousands of applications through smart contracts and as a transfer of value. Ethereum supports Decentralized autonomous applications (DAOs), Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the Metaverse.

These use cases have made Ethereum just more than a store of value. Thousands of real-world applications have been made, and new ones invented on the blockchain disrupting different industries especially finance. Adoption is therefore increasing by the day due to its broad capabilities.

Some Key Numbers About Ethereum Adoption

  • There are 14 million ETH owners globally

  • There are about 10 million ETH users

  • About 24.4% of crypto owners hold ETH tokens globally

  • Ethereum ranks second after Bitcoin by market cap

  • Currently, the Ethereum market cap is approximately $340 billion

  • The daily average value of ETH transactions stands at 1.16 million for February and March 2022

  • The average 24h transaction volume for ETH is roughly $16 billion

  • Close to 112 million ETH tokens are in circulation

  • Surveys between Oct and Dec 2021 discovered that ownership levels for ETH had decreased from 28.2% to 24.4%

During the multiple bull rallies in 2021, Ethereum’s market dominance rose to 22% Currently, this has decreased to 18.5% partly due to increased competition from altcoins.

According to a survey, Ethereum awareness stood at 19.49% globally in 2020. The awareness level however stood at 63% for crypto holders.

Overall, Ethereum ownership levels stood at 2.38% among the respondents (owners and non-owners of crypto) in a global survey. Adoption rates however increased when the question was posed to crypto owners. About 25% of crypto owners held ETH tokens.

For the first five years of its existence, Ethereum had a faster adoption and growth rate than Bitcoin. By the fifth year, ETH addresses were four times more than Bitcoin. The data was weighed for the first five years of each coin’s existence. This was attributed to the ICO boom that saw thousands of applications and blockchain ecosystems created all depending on ERC20 tokens.

Ethereum’s search dominance was second only to Bitcoin in 2021. To underscore its popularity, ETH search interest came in second in the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia, Argentina, and South Africa. For instance, ETH search interest stood at 13.8% in Australia and 11.9% in the US.

Ethereum Adoption by Countries

We’ve selected several countries to show the level of ETH ownership. The data presented below shows adoption levels among crypto owners in different countries worldwide.

Singapore:

  • According to a recent survey done in 27 countries, Ethereum is Singapore's most popular crypto asset. 43.5% of crypto-asset owners in the country hold ETH tokens.

United States:

  • Ethereum remains the second crypto asset of choice in the country. Data puts ETH ownership at 31.1% among crypto owners in the country. The US ranks 7th in ETH ownership among 27 countries that participated in a survey in December 2021.

United Kingdom:

  • Although interest in cryptocurrency seemed to decline in the UK in late 2021, Ethereum adoption levels continued to increase. Ethereum ranked second after Bitcoin, with 32.9% of crypto owners holding ETH. This is well above the global average, which stood at 24.4%.

Germany:

  • Like many other jurisdictions, data puts Ethereum as the second most popular crypto asset for Germans. 30% of crypto owners in Germany hold ETH tokens. The change in law in the country which gives financial institutions leeway to trade crypto assets is expected to spur adoption. It will be interesting to see ownership numbers at the end of 2022.

France:

  • Reports put Ethereum as the second most popular crypto asset in France. 14% of crypto owners in the country hold Ethereum.

Australia:

  • Ethereum also emerges as the second-best crypto in the land down under. About 42.9% of crypto owners hold ETH tokens.

The Explosion of DeFi Protocols

Despite the volatility of crypto assets, interest in DeFi increased drastically in 2021. DeFi allows users to utilize decentralized financial instruments that use smart contracts. Ethereum saw corresponding growth considering it is one of the main blockchains that supports DEFI.

DeFi applications come in various forms and products, helping investors save, borrow, and manage crypto assets and derivatives.

There are currently over 4.4 million DeFi users on Ethereum. The number had seen a rapid increase since the beginning of 2020 when there were slightly over 100,000 users. Some of the leading DeFi platforms and applications on Ethereum include Uniswap, 1inch, and Sushiswap.

According to a leading investment bank, the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi soared to $200 billion in 2021. This is a ten times increase from the TVL in 2020.

DeFi has not gone mainstream yet. Currently, technically savvy investors and early adopters are the ones powering the ecosystem. Once Ethereum fully rolls out its scheduled upgrades that intend to increase efficiency and reduce fees, DeFi applications are likely to become mainstream. At that point, it's almost certain that ETH transactions and adoption will make sense to the masses.

Factors Affecting Ethereum Adoption

There are factors that affect the mass adoption of Ethereum:

Bitcoin:

  • Bitcoin is synonymous with cryptocurrencies in many jurisdictions. A majority of non-technical and first-time investors tend to go for Bitcoin. Despite Ethereum’s vast array of utilities, Bitcoin enjoys the first mover's advantage and generally affects the direction of the rest of the crypto market. Bitcoin’s dominance mostly supersedes 50%, while Ethereum typically scores under 24%. There are over 106 million Bitcoin owners globally compared to 14 million for Ethereum.

Awareness:

  • The media also gives more attention to Bitcoin. Therefore, awareness levels for Ethereum suffer from all the attention Bitcoin gets. For instance, reports from the FCA show a paltry 11% of non-crypto users in the UK are aware of Ethereum compared to 83% for Bitcoin. However, experts indicate that Ethereum may be following the internet’s trajectory. DeFi apps, NFT, and Metaverses are likely to increase Ethereum’s awareness in the long run.

Competition:

  • Alternative blockchain projects modeled after Ethereum have been established. These take advantage of Ethereum’s shortcomings, especially the higher gas fees. The slow implementations of core aspects of the Ethereum, like sharding, make developers look at other alternatives such as Cardano and Avalanche for DeFi, gaming, and NFT projects. Its clear that projects like Cardano and Solana are eating into Ethereum’s market share. Currently, both projects have a cumulative market dominance of 3%.

Crypto providers:

  • On a positive note, you can buy Ethereum on almost all exchanges. There are many trading pairs available, including fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. This has a positive effect because anyone can easily buy ETH tokens. Some top providers you can use to buy Ethereum include Coinbase, Binance, and eToro.

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