Crypto usage grew 34% in 2023; Bitcoin, Ethereum major catalysts
Defi activity on Bitcoin and Ethereum’s technological upgrade after the merge propelled global crypto usage above 500 million, a Crypto.com report said. According to the crypto exchange, cryptocurrency holders or users increased from 432 million to around 580 million worldwide, marking a 34% growth in 12 months following breakthroughs on the two largest blockchains. The number of Bitcoin (BTC) participants expanded by some 33%, rising from 222 million at the start of last year to nearly 300 million by December. Per the report, BTC’s adoption exploded primarily because of institutional interest and the coming of spot BTC ETFs from issuers like BlackRock. Spot BTC ETFs received the green light on Jan. 10 and saw billions in trading volume in the first week after trading opened. Additionally, the rise of inscriptions and ordinals reinforced on-chain activity on crypto’s largest decentralized network. Inscriptions allow users to create assets akin to Ethereum NFTs and ERC-...