The cryptocurrency industry has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. And it’s far from over, according to a new report that estimates the number of crypto users will surpass one billion by the end of the decade.
Cryptocurrency users soon to top one billion?
The United Nations estimates that the number of people on Earth will reach 8.5 billion by 2030… And by then, one billion of them will be cryptocurrency users, according to a report by the Boston Consulting Group, Bitget and Foresight Ventures.
According to the study, the adoption of cryptocurrencies is still in its infancy. A comparison is made with the adoption curve of the Internet between 1992 and 2005. The report assumes that cryptos will follow the same trajectory:
Internet adoption VS cryptocurrency adoption
Hence, an optimistic estimate, which indicates that the adoption of the ecosystem and its related assets is far from having reached its upper limit:
“If we use the number of cryptocurrency holders as an equivalent for Web3 users […], the message is clear: there is still a lot of growth to come. “
Perception of risk will fall
As the industry becomes more democratic, the perception of associated risks will decline, and fuel adoption, the report said. Currently, cryptocurrencies are estimated to account for only 0.3% of the assets held by the world’s investors. This share rises to 1-2% among investment funds, showing a greater potential for retail penetration.
Adoption will not be homogeneous. Unsurprisingly, North America is likely to lead the way. Investors there currently hold an average of $18,000 in cryptocurrencies per capita.
The wave of adoption should in any case continue to be driven by institutional investors. Banks, government-linked funds and other players will continue to be interested in the field:
“While individual investors remain the largest holders of cryptocurrencies, institutional interest is growing. “
These players doubled their exposure to cryptocurrencies between 2020 and 2021. In terms of spot trading volume, it has increased sevenfold in the last two years.
What does this tell us? First of all, bear market or not, the groundswell of adoption seems to have only just begun. And that like other areas, it was once the “big money” started to take an interest in crypto-currencies that they started to take off in the public perception.
