43+ Cryptocurrency Statistics You Need To Know In 2021
Bitcoin was the first decentralized cryptocurrency. It was created in 2009. Since then, it has experienced massive growth. The amount of success that Bitcoin has achieved exposes the flaws in our traditional banking system. It has also brought about thousands of other cryptocurrencies known as altcoins.
Several businesses around the world now accept various forms of cryptocurrency as a means of payment for goods and services.
In light of cryptocurrencies’ popularity, we have decided to bring you some of the most crucial cryptocurrency statistics to sate your knowledge thirst.
Fascinating Cryptocurrency Statistics
Listed below are some of the mind-blowing cryptocurrency stats. Let’s have a look.
- Bitcoin had a market capitalization of $1072.21 billion as of February 21st, 2021.
- The global blockchain market will go up to $23.3 billion by 2023.
- The highest number of global daily bitcoin transactions in Q1 of 2021 is 367,536.
- Between 2012 and 2020, Bitcoin has gained 193,639.36%
- The market size for cryptocurrency will get to $1087.7 million by 2026.
- The user index for 2021 shows a 97% confidence in cryptocurrencies.
- Turkey is the country with the highest rate of cryptocurrency adoption (20%).
The figures mentioned above are jawbreaking, considering the relatively short time that cryptocurrencies have been in existence. We believe this should give a hint as to why the world is clamoring for the increased adoption of cryptocurrencies.
General Cryptocurrency Statistics
Let’s talk about Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, blockchain, and the different milestones attained thus far.
1. A post on Bitcoin surfaces on social media every three seconds.
(Source: Finder)
A recent cryptocurrency stat revealed that there are 28,866 social media posts on Bitcoin posted online daily. If we do the math, then about 1,203 posts are made every hour. That is about 20 posts per minute!
2. Bitcoin’s price has grown by 66% in February 2021.
(Source: Tech Crunch)
In January 2021, the digital asset’s rate was just $30 000. By February, it went up by about $20 000, according to cryptocurrency stats.
Even more impressive, it was only worth $10 000 a year ago. That makes a 400% increase in value by Q1 of 2021!
Hodlrs must be super excited since they can now sell their coins at a profit.
3. Tether was the biggest cryptocurrency as of February 22nd, with a $109 billion 24-hour volume.
(Source: Statista)
Tether has recently been growing in popularity.
It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the virtual asset, however. Big names like New York’s Attorney General were once its number one critic. He argued that the USD dollar didn’t 100% back the coin, therefore it might not be as stable as it claims.
Tether did not deny the claims and revealed that the dollar’s endorsement was 74%. It has, however, proven its worth over the years and currently serves various markets.
While Bitcoin clocked in about $56 billion during the last week of February 2021, Tether did almost double that – $108.77 billion. According to cryptocurrency statistics for 2021, Tether and Bitcoin took the first and second position, respectively. Ethereum took the third spot with $24.51 billion.
4. Ethereum got about 1 million daily transactions in 2020.
(Source: Statista)
Ethereum, Bitcoin’s top competitor, had the highest amount of transactions per day during Q4 of 2020.
Bitcoin transactions per day show that it only got around 330K – almost four times lower than Ethereum.
As of February 2021, Etherium was still at the top with 1.2 million transactions. Bitcoin managed to do at least 272K.
5. There was 667 million new crypto-malware by March 2020.
(Source: Statista)
These internet thugs never miss a chance to steal, huh!
As of January 2020, they had unleashed over 600 million sneaky crypto-malware. According to cryptocurrency security statistics, that number had increased by around 16 million by March the same year.
This is among the most dangerous threats because it can mine for crypto in the background without arousing any suspicion in a process known as cryptojacking.
Go for solutions with behavioral intelligence to block any attempts for installation. For threats that are already in the system, AI-driven counter intrusion tools will work best.
6. The first ten cryptocurrencies with the highest market cap make up about 88% of the total cryptocurrency market value.
(Source: Block Social)
This includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Tether, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Litecoin, Binance Coin, EOS, and Tezos.
7. Cryptocurrency exchanges around the globe exceeded 300 as of 2020.
(Source: Block Social)
Crypto exchanges serve as middlemen between cryptocurrency buyers and sellers. Their services support fiat-for-cryptocurrency and crypto-to-crypto transactions. According to cryptocurrency facts, they were 300+ in 2020.
So, which are the big players in this niche?
According to Statista, Binance was the winner with $28.85 /24-hour volume as of February 2021. The second position went to HBTC with $14.44 billion, while Hydax Exchange took the third position with $12.19 billion.
8. The Number of Bitcoin Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as of January 2021 was 14,915.
(Source: Statista)
As of the first month of 2021, the number of complex and basic crypto ATMs was around 14,000. In February, there were 915 new machines.
Genesis Coin is the largest manufacturer of the devices with 34.6%, while the second-biggest is General Bytes, with 30% of the market share.
9. The confidence for cryptocurrency as of January 2021 is almost 100%.
(Source: Binance Research)
Institutional and retail interest in Etherium and Bitcoin by investors dramatically rose in Q4 of 2020. In a 2021 survey of over 60,000 users worldwide, 97% of them confessed their faith in digital assets. According to cryptocurrency statistics, over half of the respondents consider venturing into it as a source of income.
10. There are about 900 new coins in the market every day as of 2021.
(Source: Buy Bitcoin Worldwide)
Every 10 minutes, the number of bitcoins in the market increases. Miners are always excavating new blocks. The average per day is 144, and each throws 6.25 coins into circulation. That makes 900 cryptos daily.
11. As of February 25th, 2021, one Ether is worth $1500.87.
(Source: Ycharts)
As you may know, crypto prices are always going up and down.
According to crypto stats, as of February 25th, the cost of Ether rose by $18.99 on a single day. Compared to January data on the same date, Ether’s value has improved by $131.78.
12. As of January 2021, there are 18.6 million Bitcoins in existence.
(Source: Buy Bitcoin Worldwide)
According to crypto stats, miners have managed to unearth over 18 million coins as of 2021. The figure is slightly higher than that of 2020 – about 300K.
Here’ something that miners can look forward to:
As of 2021, there are about 2 361,018 Bitcoins in repositories waiting for the luckiest miners.
13. The US dollar will back the Libra coin on a ratio of 1:1 in 2021.
(Source: Coin Desk)
According to cryptocurrency facts, Libra, Facebook’s virtual money, will launch a single coin in 2021. The company has already built a blockchain to support it in terms of security and verifiability.
The organization’s initial plan was to peg the currency to fiat. Due to various regulatory hurdles, the US dollar will support it by 50%.
14. The first Bitcoin real-life purchase was for two pizzas, and it cost 10,000 BTC.
(Source: Investopedia)
According to cryptocurrency usage statistics, this happened on May 22, 2010, between two Bitcoin forum members. Judging by the current price, this amount of Bitcoin is equivalent to over 90 million USD.
15. Bitcoin alone accounts for $6 billion of daily online transactions.
(Source: News Logical)
It is surpassed only by two of America’s top payment networks – Visa Card ($30.3 billion) and MasterCard ($16.2 billion).
16. There were 5,098 alternative cryptocurrencies in existence aside from Bitcoin as of 2020.
(Source: News.Bitcoin)
Bitcoin paved the way for cryptocurrency, with thousands of others flooding the marketplace. Cryptos like Ethereum have their unique blockchain. Others, like Libra, exploit Bitcoin’s flaws, such as low transaction numbers per second. As of 2020, the total number of cryptocurrencies was over 5K altcoins and 20K markets.
17. There were over 4000 cryptocurrencies as of 2021.
(Source: Statista)
So, how many cryptocurrencies are there today?
Between 2013 and 2021 is 4000+. That is an over 90% increase for 2013’s 66.
It’s relatively easy to make these digital assets, and it’s no wonder that they keep popping up.
Not all of them, however, are dominant.
Etherium, Bitcoin, Tether, XRP, and Litecoin are the creme-de-la-creme and take at least 83% of the market.
It’s important to note that not all virtual currencies survive.
1984 is the number of coins that haven’t pulled through. Some like BitConnect were outed as Ponzi schemes. Others went down due to catastrophic hacks, while many became valueless.
18. 65% of cryptocurrency users are bitcoin owners.
(Binance Research)
Bitcoin is the most popular cyber currency.
According to cryptocurrency users statistics for 2021, it has almost 70% ownership. Even better, digital cash traders allocate up to 20% of their portfolio to Bitcoin.
So how are these traders using this type of crypto?
Here is the usage breakdown:
- Almost 40% of users hold on to the coins for dear life instead of selling
- 11% utilize it for making payments for goods and services. Think of it as barter trade.
- 22% use it to lend or stake.
Cryptocurrency Adoption Statistics
According to cryptocurrency user statistics, new users are being added to the cryptocurrency network each day. Also, the number of cryptocurrency transactions that take place daily is on the rise. We have taken the time to fish out some of the top cryptocurrency users statistics for 2020. Let’s have a look at them:
19. There were 68 million wallet users by February 2021.
(Source: Statista)
Users store their personal data in wallets. It works like a regular wallet or bank account, just in digital form. By Q4 of 2020, there were 63M wallet owners, but that number increased by 3M by Q1 Of 2020.
20. Collectively Blockfi and Bitpay offered decentralized financing worth $232 million in 2020.
(Source: Crunchbase News)
It’s hard to ignore the decentralized funding that has been happening in the blockchain space for the last few years. According to cryptocurrency statistics, Bitpay offered Bitcoin payments worth $72 million, while Blockfi issued loans with crypto as a security.
21. Europe will see blockchain funding of $300 billion by 2022.
(Source: Crunchbase News)
After consulting with 200+ B2B blockchain companies, David Chreng-Messembourg is confident that funding will increase in the coming years. According to blockchain statistics, their financing will reach 350 million Euros or $425 million by 2022 to 2023.
The region has been developing rapidly when it comes to blockchain, and Chreng-Messembourg believes the next few years the adoption will continue.
22. By the end of 2030, banks will save $27 billion through blockchain adoption.
(Source: CCN)
Banks often lose a lot due to procedures like money-laundry checks, payment processing, reconciliations, compliance, and treasury operations. The implementation of blockchain will see financial institutions save over $25 billion by 2030. That will cut the organizations’ expenses in half.
23. Daily transactions for Bitcoin nearly reached the 400,000 mark in the first quarter of 2021.
(Source: Statista)
Bitcoin user growth has propelled it to have more transactions than ever before. As of January 2021, its entries were more than those of January 2018, with a difference of 78,722 transactions per day.
Bear in mind that Q1 of 2021 was a time when most economies were emerging from the ashes of Covid 19. Therefore, its performance was exemplary considering the circumstances. People are now showing interest in Bitcoin more than ever. It’s gaining more traction compared to other cryptocurrencies.
24. Coinbase had 43 million users as of Q4 of 2020.
(Source: CNBC)
As you may know, Coinbase is one of the most dominant crypto exchanges on the globe. It filed to go public in 2021 since it had made a good amount of revenue the previous year.
The company made lots of money in 2020 to the tune of $1.4 billion. That was double-digit growth compared to 2019’s when it made around $480 million. According to cryptocurrency exchange statistics, its net profit that same year was $322 million.
By Q4 of 2020, the organization had around 43 million users, and almost 3 million made transactions daily.
25. In 2020, Peru was the leading country in South America when it came to cryptocurrency adoption with 16%.
According to cryptocurrency statistics by usage, Peru dominated the market by 16% in 2020 – the highest in South America.
Collectively, Latin America held cryptocurrency worth $25 billion during the same period. The ability to move the digital money overseas with minimal charges led to its growth in popularity in the region.
Cryptocurrency Statistics by Country
According to cryptocurrency statistics by country, certain countries have placed strict regulations on incoming, outgoing, and internal cryptocurrency transactions. The purpose is to prevent the use of cryptocurrencies for fraud or for stealing public funds. However, some other countries like Turkey are more lenient and even encourage activities like cryptocurrency mining and trading.
26. 79% of cryptocurrency owners in the UK have invested in Bitcoin.
(Source: Finder)
Bitcoin serves as the base currency for other cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrency adoption statistics show that it can be used to purchase any other cryptocurrency on exchanges.
27. In early 2021, China launched its digital currency’s second trial.
(Source: WARC)
According to cryptocurrency statistics, the launch happened in Shenzhen and came with over $3 million in electronic money. The number of participants was 50% more than those in the first trial, which had just about 5000.
The Central Bank of China plans to support this move 100% with the primary aim of dominating the US dollar. Other countries that plan to follow suit are Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, and Cambodia.
28. There were 1000+ US corporate blockchain projects in the pipelines as of late 2020.
(Source: Forbes)
According to blockchain statistics, 14% of the projects were either awaiting production or already in the process. The rest are already in piloting, and experts predict that 30% will be ready for customers in 2021.
29. The US has the highest number of token sales ever (48%) in 2020.
(Source: Block Social)
Following the surge of Bitcoin price in 2017, creators made thousands of new cryptocurrencies. They used ICOs (also known as token sales) to raise capital for each new virtual currency. Statistics on cryptocurrency volume by country reveal that 48% of all token sales came from the US in 2020. 12.78% was from Singapore, and finally 10.5% from the UK. In 2017 alone, token sales raised $5.6 billion. Most were fraud schemes.
30. Nigeria was the leading country for cryptocurrency ownership/usage, with 32% in 2020.
(Source: Statista)
According to global cryptocurrency statistics, the West African country emerged at the top regarding utilization and possession with more than 30%. Vietnam was the second country in this category with 21%, while the Philippines followed closely with 20%.
Many Nigerians, Filipinos, and Vietnamese people who work in the diaspora prefer crypto. It’s a cheaper option for remitting money back home. In Nigeria, the addition of cryptocurrency plugins on cell phones has contributed to its popularity.
Also, the Philippines Central Bank’s endorsement has further propelled many in the region to use it.
31. China controls 60% of the world’s hash rate.
(Source: BuyBitcoin Worldwide)
And the award for “Best Bitcoin Miner in the World” goes toooooo…. CHINAAAA!
Even the US, the second on the list, doesn’t come close.
The country rules the global hash rate by over 50%, while the United States has 7%. Aside from its vast mining farms, China also produces the necessary equipment.
Cryptocurrency Market Statistics
In the world of cryptocurrency, time is an essential factor as things can change rapidly due to the high volatility of the market. Check out the stats below to understand how the cryptocurrency market operates.
32. The cryptocurrency market lost $150 billion in 2021.
(Source: CNBC)
On January 11th, 2021, cryptocurrency market statistics reveal that the market experienced a loss of over 100 billion in just 24 hours. A day earlier, Bitcoin has already lost its value by 10% which equates to $34,200. Ether also tanked by 15%, fluctuating between $945 and $1000.
33. The global blockchain market is predicted to rise to $23.3 billion by 2023.
(Source: PR News Wire)
In 2018, statistics on the cryptocurrency market size revealed that the blockchain market was worth just $1.2 billion. In 2019, that figure rose to $2.2 billion. Its year-on-year growth is expected to keep increasing.
34. The world is predicted to spend up to 15.9 billion in blockchain-related tech by 2023.
(Source: Statista)
Global spending on blockchain-related tech was $1.5 billion in 2018. It’s predicted to grow even further as more industries look to integrate blockchain features into their infrastructure.
35. In 2020, tokens raised only $20 million in sales.
(Source: Block Social)
Compared to the billions generated in ICO sales in 2017 alone, that was a long way down.
What went wrong?
According to reports, most tokens have proven to be a scam over time and not worthy of investment. Cryptocurrency transaction statistics reveal that 80% of ICOs released in 2017 were fraudulent.
According to reports, most tokens have proven to be a scam over time and not worthy of investment. Cryptocurrency transaction statistics reveal that 80% of ICOs released in 2017 were scams to either defraud people or raise funds for more important cryptocurrency projects.
36. In Q1 of 2021, the market cap for Bitcoin was at $1072 billion.
(Source: Statista)
In the first quarter of 2021, Bitcoin is making some serious money moves!
According to cryptocurrency volume statistics, Bitcoin market capitalization was at $1,072. As of January 2021, it had grown by $400 billion, the highest since its inception.
The virtual currency started becoming more popular in 2017, where there was a sudden spike. The market cap went from $11.94billion in Q4 of 2016 to $237 billion in the last quarter of 2017.
37. There will be a CAGR of 3.5% between the period 2021 to 2026.
(Source: PR News Wire)
Forecasts show that by 2026, the digital currency’s global market size will be around $1087 million. That will be a compound annual growth of almost 4% for Bitcoin, Ripple, Etherium, Dash coin, Litecoin, etc.
Compared to 2019 data, the cryptocurrency growth will be by almost 50%. Experts had predicted that its value would be worth around $792.53 million.
38. Cryptocurrency startups have raised over $20 billion via ICOs since 2017.
(Source: Coin Telegraph)
Between 2017 and 2018, ICOs raised over $18 billion in sales. When added to the $2 billion raised in 2016, we already have over $20 billion. Although the ICO trend has reduced drastically between 2019 and 2020, millions of dollars have also been generated as token sales within this time frame.
Cryptocurrency Mining Statistics
Mining is an essential process in the world of cryptocurrencies. It uses the blockchain network and is the only way new cryptos are added to the market.
So, how does the cryptocurrency mining process work?
Let’s see:
39. The average cost of running a big mining operation is $1576 per year.
(Source: Entrepreneur)
Mining Bitcoin is no longer as easy as it used to be. Fields are now over-saturated with miners. Due to that, it’s now more expensive to excavate the coins, and the reward has gradually lost some value with time.
As of 2021, you need a computer power of about 40TH/s; thus, you’ll also have to part with about $4.32 daily. $4.32*12 equals about $1576 per year.
Here’s the reward for the overheads:
0.08875 Bitcoins.
That translates to a BTC trading of about $34,000, which equates to $3,017, a gross margin of 46% according to cryptocurrency stats.
Bear in mind that you’ll have to cater for rig costs, whether buying or renting. Their rates are from $2000 to $8000. Then, of course, you’ll have to share the block with other pool miners.
40. Miners get 6.25 Bitcoin per new block in 2021.
(Source: Business Insider Africa)
According to cryptocurrency mining statistics, miners are only getting 6.25 Bitcoin/block in 2021. That translates to about $330 000. The reward has gone down over the years, from its heyday in 2009. At the time, miners got 50 Bitcoin for every new block. However, Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious Bitcoin creator, mandated that every four years, the value of new blocks should go down.
41. The average Ether income for validators is 0.0075ETH per day in 2021.
(Source: Coindesk)
As of January 2021, Ether’s reward is lower than it ever was at just $10.04, or 0.0075ETH/day. At one time, validators got 5 Ether and then got a slash in 2017 to 3 Ether after Byzantium hard fork. The Constantinople hard fork led to a further fall to 2 Ether in 2018.
On the other hand:
Network Participation for the currency is at a record 95.15%. According to cryptocurrency users statistics, every week, the number of validators rises by 10%.
42. It takes an average of 10 minutes to verify a Bitcoin transaction.
(Source: Coin Central)
10 minutes is the time it takes to verify every transaction in a block before it is sent to the node and added to the blockchain. This means that every 10 minutes, 6.25 Bitcoins are released and added to the market.
Cryptocurrency Security Statistics
Cryptocurrency has experienced massive growth. However, it also comes with its security challenges. According to cryptocurrency security statistics, there have been hundreds of cyber-crimes involving cryptocurrencies, both in the past and in the present. Today, every exchange and every cryptocurrency wallet is a target for cybercriminals.
43. 4.32% of the total Monero cryptocurrency in circulation comes from crypto jacking.
(Source: Coin Desk)
When crypto jacking was fairly new, most of its resources were used to mine Monero. This stems from its relative ease of mining and the ability to carry out untraceable transactions when compared to Bitcoin. If we go by the current value of Monero, then about $64 million worth of Monero have been lost to theft.
44. In 2020, crypto theft was down by almost 60%.
(Source: Security Magazine)
The numbers in cryptocurrency theft statistics used to be terrifying. Now there is a noticeable reduction by about 57% compared to the previous year.
2019 alone saw cyber-crime losses amounting to $4.5 billion. That was up from 2018’s $1.7B.
Top 10 Cryptocurrency by Market Cap
Coin Market Cap lists all cryptocurrencies by market capitalization in descending order. Listed below are the top 10 cryptocurrencies according to their respective market cap.
1. Bitcoin
Market cap – $896.67 billion
Market share – 42.53%
2. Ethereum
Market cap – $394.28 billion
Market share – 18.70%
3. Binance Coin
Market cap – $70.09 billion
Market share – 3.32%
4. Cardano
Market cap – $69.72 billion
Market share of 3.30%
5. Tether
Market cap – $68.05 billion
Market share – 3.22%
6. Solana
Market cap – $49.57 billion
Market share – 2.35%
7. XRP
Market cap – $48.12 billion
Market share – 2.28%
8. USD Coin
Market cap – $32.30 billion
Market share – 1.53%
9. Polkadot
Market cap – $30.52 billion
Market share – 1.44%
10. Dogecoin
Market cap – $28.27 billion
Market share – 1.34%
Wrap Up
The world of cryptocurrency is vast and ever-changing.
Cryptocurrency statistics show that the crypto market is expected to grow even further once there is mass adoption and more lenient regulations from government bodies. Who knows what surprises we’re about to witness.
Is your business harnessing the powers of the cryptocurrency market already?