The global cryptocurrency market experienced a significant increase in ownership during the first half of the year, according to Crypto.com’s latest market sizing report.

The number of owners rose 6.4% to 617 million by June from 580 million at the end of 2023. The growth was mainly driven by key developments in the Bitcoin and Ethereum ecosystems, particularly the launch of spot exchange-traded funds linked to the two digital assets.

Bitcoin (BTC) remains the dominant crypto, with ownership growing 5.9% to reach 314 million by mid-year, accounting for 51% of all crypto holders.

Meanwhile, Ethereum (ETH) saw a sharper increase in adoption, with a 9.7% rise — bringing the total number of ETH owners to 136 million, representing 22% of the global market.

Growth drivers

According to the report, two major events drove the increase in BTC adoption. The launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US and the flagship crypto’s fourth halving in April both played a pivotal role.

The halving event reduced the block rewards for miners from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC, reinforcing Bitcoin’s appeal as “digital gold” and attracting significant institutional interest. The report estimates that between 388,000 and 1.6 million individuals have invested in BTC through US spot ETFs, further boosting its adoption.

Ethereum’s growth stemmed primarily from the Dencun upgrade in March, which significantly reduced transaction fees on Ethereum’s Layer-2 (L2) networks. This upgrade enhanced Ethereum’s scalability, leading to a surge in L2 activity that now accounts for approximately 90% of all transactions on the Ethereum network, up from 77% before the upgrade.

Additionally, liquid restaking initiatives in Ethereum’s DeFi ecosystem pushed the total value locked (TVL) in DeFi to $100 billion in the first quarter, nearly 2x higher than the previous quarter.

Institutional Adoption

The report highlights strong growth in March and April, with monthly increases of 1.7% and 1.6%, respectively, coinciding with the Bitcoin halving and the Dencun upgrade. During this period, institutional investors played a pivotal role in Bitcoin’s sustained growth, with US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracting over $14 billion in inflows by the end of June.

Ethereum also benefited from increased institutional interest, particularly leading up to the SEC dropping its investigations into ETH and the regulator’s approval of spot ETH ETFs — both of which have boosted investor confidence in Ethereum and the overall market. The initial surge of interest caused ETH prices to rally to $3,900 by June.

The spot ETFs have recorded remarkable performance since their respective launches, with Bitcoin-linked funds breaking several records in the ETF market.

However, despite the significant growth during the first half, the market has struggled to break above all-time highs in recent weeks due to heightened sell pressure amid macroeconomic pressures and the deteriorating geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

As of press time, BTC was trading at $59,121, while ETH was trading at $2,612 — both down significantly from the peak price achieved this year.

Mentioned in this article