Crypto.com released its annual Crypto Market Sizing Report, showing that global cryptocurrency owners increased by 34% in 2023 – “rising from 432 million in January 2023 to 580 million in December 2023.”
Similar to the previous year, this notable growth “continued despite several macro headwinds, including monetary tightening efforts by Western central banks to tame inflation, conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, as well as ongoing longer-term impacts of the pandemic.”
Growth was sustainable in “the first half of 2023, highlighted by the success of the highly anticipated Ethereum (ETH) Shanghai Upgrade, with the second half of the year seeing strong growth for both Bitcoin (BTC) with Bitcoin ETF filings and anticipation in the U.S. market.”
This growth included BTC ownership “growing by 33%, from 222 million in January to 296 million in December (accounting for 51% of global crypto owners), and ETH ownership growing by 39%, from 89 million in January to 124 million in December (accounting for 21% of global crypto owners).”
Alongside this, Crypto.com says that it “continued its own significant growth over the course of 2023, highlighted by regulatory licenses, strategic partnerships and product launch milestones.”
These included Crypto.com securing its MVP Preparatory Licence and Virtual Asset Service Provider licence from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA), Major Payment Institution licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Virtual Asset Service Provider registration from the Bank of Spain, registration approval with De Nederlandsche Bank, authorisation as an Electronic Money Institution from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), among many others.”
Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, said:
“This past year is another important foundational year for the entire crypto community. Once again despite headwinds and challenges, the industry proved resilient and is well-positioned for mass adoption. At Crypto.com, our focus on responsible innovation continues to effectively drive us forward.”
Findings for Crypto.com’s Crypto Market Report are “based on a combination of on-chain data with blended parameters to estimate the number of global cryptocurrency owners.”
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com claims over 80 million customers worldwide.