Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 24): Global crypto users could reach one billion by the end of 2022.

In a report last Wednesday (Jan 19), Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange app Crypto.com said at present, global crypto owners are nearing 300 million.

In the report titled “2021 Crypto Market Sizing Report & 2022 Forecast”, the firm noted that it expects the number of global crypto owners to reach one billion by end-2022.

It said the global crypto population increased by 178% in 2021, rising from 106 million in January to 295 million in December.

It added that crypto adoption was remarkable in the first half of 2021.

“Heavyweight institutions, such as Tesla and Mastercard, took steps to embrace cryptocurrency.

“In the second half of 2021, traction slowed, while adoption rates were maintained well above the previous year’s benchmark.

“In summary, crypto adoption continued to grow sustainably throughout 2021,” it said.

Crypto.com noted that the overall adoption growth in the second half of 2021 was 37.5%, 13% higher than the same period in 2020 (33.3%), suggesting an accelerated adoption rate year-on-year.

It said unlike the trend in the first half of 2021, Bitcoin drove the growth and outperformed Ethereum adoption in the latter half.

It added that Bitcoin also gained market share during the third and fourth quarters from alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins).

“The weakness of Ethereum adoption may result from the emergence of Ethereum competitors like Terra and Avalanche together with the Layer 2 solutions that bridged assets away from Ethereum to other chains,” it said.

The firm stated that it expects developed nations to devise clear legal and taxation frameworks for crypto assets.

“In parallel, more nations facing a highly inflationary economy and depreciating currency may adopt cryptocurrencies as legal tenders, following the example of El Salvador,” it said.

Crypto.com noted that in 2021, the number of global crypto owners almost tripled from 106 million in January to 295 million in December.

“If we extrapolate a similar rate of increase in 2022, we are on track to reach one billion crypto users by the end of 2022,” it said.

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