According to a new Crypto.com report, the number of cryptocurrency holders worldwide increased by 39% in 2022, from 306 million in January 2022 to 425 million in December of the same year.

Ethereum beats Bitcoin

Most notably, Ethereum (ETH) witnessed the greatest surge in adoption, growing from 24 million in January to 87 million in December, or 263%, to account for 20% of all cryptocurrency holders globally.

The research attributes the increased interest in Ethereum to the network’s successful completion of “The Merge,” the update that signaled the network’s move from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus process and was finalized in September.

The report adds that the strong adoption rate of Ethereum can also be attributed to a number of other factors, including the Merge, the momentum of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the popularity of ETH liquid staking. This enthusiasm is only expected to intensify come March 2023, when staked ETH will be made available.

Bitcoin owners increased by 20% in 2022, from 183 million in January to 219 million by year’s end. However, Bitcoin accounted for more than half (52%) of worldwide crypto owners, despite its less remarkable results than Ethereum. 

The Central African Republic (CAR) became the second country in the world, after El Salvador, to recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender. Furthermore, Goldman Sachs offered its first Bitcoin-backed loan, likely contributing to the rise in Bitcoin’s adoption.

The price of Ethereum fell by over 68% in 2022, while the price of Bitcoin fell by over 65%. Meanwhile, the declared insolvency of cryptocurrency lender Genesis halted a brief bullish run that commenced at the start of 2023. 

At the time of writing, the value of both Ethereum and Bitcoin was down, with ETH down 3.2% on the day, trading at $1,538, and Bitcoin down 2.2% over the last 24 hours, trading at $20,908.