Unity Wallet, the self-custodial crypto and Web3 wallet that combines encryption, unique functionality, and intuitive design has released member insights for Q3 of 2024, uncovering trends in self-custody user activity and adoption.
Framed by geopolitical tensions and the uncertainties that have come with this “Year of Elections”, Unity Wallet experienced a “115% surge in new user adoption over the past year, highlighting user appetite for self-custody of their crypto assets.”
Self-custody wallet solutions are gaining “attention for their enhanced security and autonomy within decentralized finance, as more users seek to take control of their assets away from third-party intermediaries, which are often vulnerable to breaches.”
The surge in crypto fund inflows—from Oct 26 to Nov 2nd, $2.2 billion flowed into crypto funds amid increased investor activity “ahead of the US elections, pushing year-to-date inflows to $29.2 billion on exchanges—highlights the growing demand.”
But this influx of liquidity comes with a downside: a “notable rise in stolen funds.”
In September, crypto hacks totaled $120 million, underscoring the vulnerabilities of “centralized exchanges and driving more people to explore self-custody solutions as a safer alternative.”
James Toledano, Chief Operating Officer at Unity Wallet said, “in uncertain and volatile times, self-custody becomes increasingly critical and this need tracks in findings for Q3.” Toledano added that allowing individuals to hold and manage their private keys, “self-custody eliminates the need for intermediaries, thus reducing the risk associated with centralized exchange hacks and misuse.”
Unity Wallet recorded a 75% male and 25% female split, highlighting how its self-custody users weighted more “heavily male than the standard global rates of crypto users (61% male and 39% female).”
In addition to this, over 81% of users were under the age of 44. Over the last 12 months, Unity Wallet has gained traction across countries including, UAE, Colombia, and Turkey with a “prominent increase” in the Latin American user base following Spanish language offerings.
These trends may be attributed to the demand for crypto in emerging economies alongside developments in regions such as Turkey, which implemented its “Law on Amendments to the Capital Markets Law” in July, which established a regulatory framework “for crypto asset providers and saw a subsequent surge in the market.”
Unity users are demonstrating a strong “risk-on” appetite for trading, increasingly committing capital to self-custodial wallets.
On average, each user creates at least three wallets—excluding “sub-account creations—indicating engagement with multiple cryptocurrencies.”
The platform’s swap feature emerges as the most utilized, with “an average transaction value of $5,000.”
These trends underscore a preference for diversification and “high-value” transactions, suggesting that the ecosystem is “attracting experienced crypto enthusiasts rather than beginners.”