Despite the bear market that plagued the crypto industry in 2022, a new report shows that the number of global crypto owners continued to rise. In fact, the number of crypto owners increased by 39%, from 306 million in January to 425 million by the end of the year.
Ethereum Dominates in Adoption Rate: Outpaces Bitcoin in 2022
Interestingly, while the overall number of crypto owners grew, Ethereum saw a higher adoption rate than Bitcoin. Over the course of the year, Ethereum amassed 263% more owners, with 24 million recorded in January and 87 million in December, which was 20% of all the total crypto owners.
In contrast, Bitcoin saw 20% growth from 183 million in January to 219 million in December, which is 52% of the global crypto owners.
Experts attribute Ethereum’s significant adoption to the launch of The Merge, which went live in September and shifted the consensus algorithm on the Ethereum blockchain from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
Mainstream adoption drove bitcoin’s growth in 2022, despite its lower adoption rate compared to Ethereum. Bitcoin’s 219 million adopters accounted for more than half of the global crypto owners.
One major contributing factor to bitcoin’s increased adoption was the Central African Republic (CAR) recognizing it as a legal tender, making them the second country after El Salvador to do so. This move allowed for wider use of bitcoin in transactions.
Another factor was Goldman Sachs offering its first bitcoin-backed loan, which likely led to further adoption. Additionally, there was a rise in adoption during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, with several financial institutions such as MoneyGram, UnionBank of the Philippines, and Fidelity offering crypto services to their customers.
Despite these advancements, both ethereum and bitcoin experienced a drop in price. Ethereum dropped by 68%, while bitcoin dropped by 65%, as several exchanges collapsed and stablecoins depegged, causing mistrust in the crypto market.