Crypto Assets Mass Adoption: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Prospects

At the recent EthCC conference in Brussels, mass adoption and user experience optimization became hot topics once again. Let's examine the current adoption speed of Web3, the challenges it faces, and user preferences through some data to assess how far Crypto Assets are from true widespread adoption.

Since the advent of Bitcoin in 2009, the number of global Crypto Assets holders has soared to approximately 560 million, growing at a pace far exceeding that of the largest traditional payment networks over the past five years. However, this number accounts for only 6.8% of the global population. According to research, the number of Crypto Assets holders increased by 33% in 2023, reaching 420 million, with 34% of holders aged between 24 and 35.

Asia has shown remarkable performance in the growth of the number of holders, increasing from 268 million to 326.8 million, a growth rate of 21.8%, highlighting its important role in shaping the Crypto Assets landscape.

However, the figure of 560 million may be somewhat exaggerated, as it includes users holding assets in centralized exchanges or other digital asset custody institutions. From on-chain data, as of 2024, the total number of monthly active addresses for the top 20 Layer 1 blockchains has just exceeded 75 million. Even when adding the monthly active addresses of the most popular Layer 2 solutions (slightly below 20 million), the total number of users across all mainstream chains is only about 100 million, and this number may be overstated due to one person having multiple addresses.

By observing the new address metrics of Bitcoin, we find that the growth rate of new addresses per month has fallen to the levels of 2018, indicating that on-chain activity is shrinking, which is a typical manifestation of a decline in the network's fundamentals.

The approval of the Bitcoin ETF at the beginning of this year may be the main driving force behind the surge in Crypto Assets users. Surveys show that 21% of non-Crypto Assets users stated that this approval had a positive impact on their investment decisions.

Although the acceptance of Crypto Assets is continuously increasing, 44% of non-crypto users still say they will never buy Crypto Assets, mainly due to value instability and lack of government protection.

Speculation remains the main gameplay of Web3 and Crypto Assets, but the average portfolio performance of new users entering after 2021 often remains in a state of loss.

Interestingly, according to a study in 2023, the third most popular Crypto Assets among cryptocurrency investors is Dogecoin, a ranking that may not include stablecoins such as USDC and USDT.

Although the recent friendly attitude of the U.S. government towards Crypto Assets may affect user growth, stories like the thousandfold increase of Dogecoin can truly ignite the interest of users outside the circle. This raises a question: should the market capitalization of Crypto Assets soar first, or should users adopt them first? This question is as thought-provoking as "which came first, the chicken or the egg."

Regardless, it is certain that Web3 in 2024 is still in the early stages of development.