Global cryptocurrency owners increased by 34% in 2023, rising from 432 million in January to 580 million in December.
Bitcoin (BTC) owners grew by 33%, from 222 million in January to 296 million in December, accounting for 51% of global owners.
Ethereum (ETH) owners grew by 39%, from 89 million in January to 124 million in December, accounting for 21% of global owners.
The main catalyst behind BTC’s adoption growth was the development in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and the introduction of the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol, which enabled non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fungible tokens to be minted on the Bitcoin network. Strong interest from institutional investors also contributed to the increase in BTC’s adoption.
ETH’s adoption growth was mainly driven by liquid staking after Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade, which allowed the withdrawals of staked ETH after the transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain.
