According to a recent report by Crypto.com, the number of global cryptocurrency holders increased from 432 million in January to 580 million in December, marking a significant increase of 34% in 2023.
The report emphasizes that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are at the forefront of this increase. Bitcoin holders increased by 33% from 222 million in January to 296 million in December, accounting for 51% of global holders. Ethereum, on the other hand, increased by 39%, from 89 million in January to 124 million in December, accounting for 21% of global holders.
The main trigger behind Bitcoin adoption was the development of Bitcoin Spot ETFs and the launch of the Bitcoin Ordinals protocol. This new protocol enabled non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and fungible tokens to be mined on the Bitcoin network.
The report also noted strong interest from institutional investors contributing to the increase in Bitcoin adoption.
According to the report, the increase in Ethereum adoption was primarily spurred by liquid staking after Ethereum's Shanghai Update. This update allowed withdrawing staked Ethereum coins after the transition to the Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain.
*This is not investment advice.