40+ cryptocurrency statistics in 2024

• Crypto’s global market value stood at $2.2 trillion in August 2024 (at the time of publishing), up 36% from January 2024’s $1.6 trillion cumulative market value. (Kraken; FDIC)
• Around 562 million people own crypto, which accounts for 6.8% of the global population. (Triple•A)
• Over 52% of American adults have purchased a cryptocurrency. Crypto is most popular with adults ages 45-60. (Kraken)
• The average crypto investor earned $887 of net realized gains in 2023 — a positive increase from 2022’s average of $7,102 in losses. (CoinLedger)
• Combined trading volume (spot, futures, PTL) reached a high of $77 billion as of March 2024, the second highest level since March 2021 trading volumes reached $100 billion. (Kraken)

Crypto is a global financial movement that’s redefining how people connect and transact. Adoption boomed in 2021 and cryptocurrencies have remained popular since, with more than 562 million people owning crypto globally.

Despite its growth in popularity, some people continue to doubt whether cryptocurrency is a legitimate asset class. This can be partially attributed to the fact that crypto is shifting our understanding of how the digital economy operates. 

In an effort to clear the air, we’ve pulled together several statistics to showcase how crypto is impacting our world today and what you might be able to expect in the future.

Cryptocurrency ownership remains strong, and investors are more aware than ever of crypto’s potential. Estimates vary, but as of 2024, one study found that 40% of American adults own crypto (up 10 points from 2023), and 63% of current owners plan to buy more.

That’s a positive sign that negative sentiments toward crypto might be shifting, both at an individual and social level. Especially when considering the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024, new investors continue to enter the crypto space through new channels each day.

1. 76% of crypto investors own Bitcoin (BTC), and it remains the most commonly owned type of cryptocurrency. 

2. Ethereum (ETH) is at a distant second with 54% of crypto investors owning it — a decline from its 65% rate of ownership in 2022. (Security.org)

3. Instability and volatility within the crypto market are top concerns for both investors and non-investors within the crypto space. (National Library of Medicine)

4. One study estimates that 75% of Bitcoin transaction volume has been linked to exchanges since 2015. (NBER)

5. Almost all cash used for crypto transactions passes through a checking account before it’s exchanged into crypto, and 90% of cash transactions involving crypto are deposited into a crypto exchange. (FDIC)

6. Kraken is one of the world’s longest-standing cryptocurrency platforms, supporting 1,000+ spot, margin and future markets,* and employing over 2,500 people across 60 countries. (Kraken)

7. Kraken has averaged 40% EUR volume market share since the start of 2023 and is one of the most liquid trading venues for BTC-EUR, ETH-EUR and other major markets. (Kraken)

8. 31% of investors didn’t report their crypto assets on their 2023 crypto taxes, with half of them citing they haven’t made a profit yet as a reason. 18% didn’t know they had to report crypto assets. (CoinLedger)

9. Stablecoins that try to maintain a fixed value peaked in popularity in 2022, with a $152 billion market cap as of June 2022 across the top 10 stablecoin assets. (Statista)

Regulators like the SEC, FTC, and other agencies oversee centralized finance (CeFi), including traditional institutions like brokers. This can provide an additional sense of security for your investments, but there are also more intermediaries and inefficiencies that can come along with this involvement.

On the other hand, much of crypto and its motivations for adoption are built on decentralized finance (DeFi). With DeFi, there’s no central authority to act as an intermediary for transactions, meaning users have full control of their assets without an intermediary. Within DeFi, coins are accessible and transactions are executed using transparent blockchain networks that are not under the direct control of a single person, company or government agency. 

10. The number of users in the global DeFi market is estimated to reach over 22 million users by 2028, up from 18.9 million users in 2024. (Statista)

11. A lack of institutional oversight is the greatest concern for 26% of people that don’t own crypto, while only 10% of active crypto owners indicated that this was a concern. (Security.org)

12. DeFi investment hacks, scams and frauds have resulted in over $80.1 billion in losses since 2011, while $6.7 billion of these funds have been recovered. (De.Fi)

13. CeFi was the primary target for 70% of successful exploits in 2024 (resulting in $401 million in losses), while DeFi exploits represented 30% of losses ($171 million). (Immunefi)

14. This is a shift from previous periods when DeFi was most vulnerable to hacks. DeFi losses due to hacks decreased 25%, while CeFi losses increased 984% when comparing 2024 and 2023’s Q2 performances. (Immunefi)

Crypto is increasingly popular across demographics, but young adult males remain the primary owners of crypto assets.

However, the way people use crypto (transactions vs. investments) and their ownership interests as a whole varies by gender, race and household income. 

15. Of all the different assets available to them, crypto owners believe the growth potential is largest in cryptocurrency (36%) compared to traditional assets like stocks (34%), bonds (13%) and real estate (17%). (Kraken)

16. 73% of Americans that already hold crypto are somewhat or very likely to invest in crypto in 2025. (Kraken)

17. More American women are buying crypto in 2024, with current ownership rates at 29%. That’s 11 points higher than their ownership rate in 2023 (18%). (Security.org)

18. Crypto remains most attractive to men in the U.S., with a 49% ownership rate among U.S. men in 2024 (up 5 points from 2023). (Security.org)

19. Globally, the crypto gender divide is even larger than in the U.S. A majority (61%) of crypto owners globally are male, and less than half (39%) are female. (Triple•A)

20. Over 52% of American adults have purchased a cryptocurrency. Crypto is most popular with adults ages 45-60. (Kraken)

21. Examining U.S. crypto ownership by race, Asian Americans are the most likely to own crypto (11%) and largely use crypto as an investment rather than for executing transactions (9% vs. 2%). (Statista)

22. Crypto usage trends do have some correlations with household income, as lower-income Americans earning $25,000 or less are the most likely demographic to use crypto as a medium of exchange for transactions (4%). (Statista)

23. Only 1% of higher-income households use crypto for transactions (1%). They largely choose to hold their crypto as an investment instead. (Statista)

24. The average crypto investor in the U.S. earns $7,467 a month, while those without crypto assets average $6,648 per month. (FDIC)

25. Crypto owners are also more likely to have traditional brokerage investments and invest approximately 41% more than those without crypto assets. (FDIC)

26. Just 1.9% of respondents to a study use cryptocurrency as a payment method, and just 4% use it for international transactions. (National Library of Medicine)

27. Investments are the most popular use for crypto — 79.2% of owners actively trade or hold their assets as an investment.  (National Library of Medicine)

28. 20% of crypto investors have more than five years of experience with crypto, though a majority of crypto investors have just six months to two years of experience. (National Library of Medicine)

At this point, crypto has reached nearly every corner of the globe. Over 560 million people globally use cryptocurrencies for investment and transaction purposes.

29. Cryptocurrency has recently grown fastest in South America as ownership rates increased 116.5% between 2023 and 2024. (Triple•A)

30. While our 2024 study found that 52% of Americans have purchased crypto, another study founbd that the United Arab Emirates has the largest crypto ownership rate globally, with 25.3% of their population owning some amount of crypto. (Kraken) (Triple•A)

31. Crypto assets are most popular in Asia with 327 million crypto users — a 354% increase from North America’s second-largest user base at 72 million.  (Triple•A)

32. Many countries are researching Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) options. Four countries currently offer CBDC (Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Bahamas and Nigeria), and 22 others are working on pilot programs. (CBDC Tracker)

33. Kraken EUR volume share has averaged approximately 40% since the start of 2023 (Coinbase was 10% over that same timeframe). Kraken offers one of the most liquid venue for major markets like BTC-EUR & ETH-EUR. (Kraken)

34. Kraken is the primary venue for CHF volume and liquidity. (Kraken)

35. One study estimates that 60%-80% of global crypto mining occurred in China between 2015 and April 2020. (NBER)

36. One estimate suggests that the top 10% of crypto miners control 90% of mining activities through highly concentrated mining pools, while 50% of activities are controlled by 0.1% of miners. (NBER)

37. The Bitcoin Mining Council estimates that 59.9% of Bitcoin miners use a sustainable power mix while operating their miners (Bitcoin Mining Council)

Despite its rising adoption rates and the SEC’s recent approval of both BTC and ETH spot ETFs, cryptocurrencies still have some negative perceptions to overcome.

While countries like the U.S. are approving Bitcoin exchange traded products, other governments are restricting or even banning crypto activities. 

At the same time, there are more ways to securely trade and understand the space while getting started with crypto.. Some countries have actually created economic structures to support crypto success, like Turkey’s moves to regulate and tax crypto while integrating blockchains into its economy. 

These moves are ultimately aimed at protecting investors and helping to address the sophisticated scams, hacks and frauds that can take place within the crypto space.

38. Hacks in 2024 account for 98.5% of losses, compared to fraud, which accounts for 1.5%. (Immunefi)

39. Investors are more interested in positive price momentum (31%) than security regulations (21%) when determining their interest in crypto. (Kraken)

40. Ethereum (34 incidents) and BNB Chain (18 incidents) are the most targeted blockchains as of Q2 2024, accounting for 71% of total incidents. (Immunefi)

41. Losses due to hacks have increased 24% since 2023, reaching over $920 million lost. (Immunefi)

42. 62% of 2024’s current losses are attributed to two hacks: A loss of $305 million worth of Bitcoin after DMM Bitcoin was hacked on May 31 and a $55 million loss on June 23 caused by a hack of BtcTurk. (Immunefi)

Crypto is relatively new and complex compared to traditional financial systems. If you want a peek into future performance, here are some frequently asked investment questions we get.

Cryptocurrency ownership increased 10 points from 2023, and a majority of owners plan to purchase more crypto in the future. January 2024 SEC updates on Bitcoin ETPs have help to legitimize crypto’s place in the modern financial system, which may help to support its growth in adoption for years to come. 

That said, current three-month market performance metrics show that crypto values are actually down for a majority of assets as of July 2024. This is particularly for top assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin over the past three months.

Growth and performance vary quickly, so it’s always best to do your own research for the most updated metrics. But we can still identify trends from the first half of 2024. 

As far as ownership popularity, Binance Coin (BNB) increased from 6% ownership among crypto investors in 2023 to 10%, according to Security.org’s 2024 consumer report.

USDC ownership also increased by two points, with 12% of crypto owners holding the stablecoin in their portfolio in 2024.

Considering value, Toncoin (TON) crypto investor ownership increased 42.84% over the last three months prior to publishing— the most significant growth across all major crypto assets. 

While it’s hard to say if crypto will ever replace traditional finance, it does provide a more accessible and transparent means of sharing information and resources. 

This is particularly powerful for developing economies that might not have access to traditional banks, or where the institutions are inconsistent or less than trustworthy. 

Cryptocurrency statistics vary dramatically from year to year as adoption, regulations and market performance fluctuates. As a relatively new asset class, there’s still a lot of misinformation and unknown impacts, so tracking the most up-to-date crypto information is essential.

Crypto adoption, earnings and value are largely increasing in the first half of 2024, indicating a positive outlook for crypto. If you’re interested in getting started with crypto or expanding your portfolio, Kraken can help you buy and trade assets.