Crypto users to jump 25% to 830m in 2024

• To hit 1bn by 2028

• Nigeria lifts ban on crypto trading 

• As transactions grew y-o-y to $56.7bn 2022-2023

 Ben Eguzozie

The number of people using cryptocurrencies will jump by 25 percent to hit over 830 million by the end of 2024, as a payment method or investment, according to a recent data presented by AltIndex. Last year, the figure hit 670 million.

Cryptocurrencies have had a fantastic year, with all the largest cryptos seeing double and triple-digit price growth. The 2023 price rally drove impressive trading activity in the crypto space, and caused a surge in the total number of crypto users.

This year alone, some 160 million people would flock to crypto. Cryptocurrencies made a serious comeback last year, surprising many investors who claimed the crypto market was dead. After a brutal 2022, which spooked investors and wiped hundreds of billions of dollars from the market, the 2023 price rally rebuilt confidence in crypto, drawing more crypto users than ever.

Between 2020 and 2022, more than 350 million people worldwide started using cryptos as a payment method or investment, according to a Statista survey. The mass adoption of digital assets continued last year despite challenging economic conditions and the headwinds the crypto industry faced.

During 2023 alone, the number of crypto users soared by a massive 57 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) and hit 670.5 million globally. Data show the global crypto user base will continue growing in 2024, although it will be slower than in previous years.

Statista says it expects around 160 million people to flock to crypto this year, pushing the total number of users in the market to a whopping 833.7 million, almost 15 times more than just five years ago. By 2028, the crypto industry is expected to hit a huge new milestone with nearly one billion users worldwide. The global crypto ownership rate will also increase in this period, rising from 10.76 percent to 12.39 percent.

India to rank highest crypto user in 2024

India, in global comparison, remains the world’s largest and fastest-growing crypto nation, with the biggest share in the global crypto user count. The South Asian country has seen a significant rise in crypto investors in recent years, driven by a growing, well-educated middle class combined with a less-developed traditional financial system.

Last year, there were 206 million crypto users in India. This figure is expected to grow by 30 percent and hit almost 270 million this year. This means that every fourth crypto user in the world will be from India. Also, it will translate that India will count more crypto users than the next seven largest crypto nations combined.

The US, despite being the world’s largest crypto transaction market, Americans are far behind India in crypto usage. Statistics show the US market will reach 87.7 million crypto users in 2024, or 18 percent more than last year. Brazil, Indonesia, and Russia follow with 46.4 million, 40.8 million, and 32.8 million users as of this year. That is much more than Europe’s largest crypto nations, the United Kingdom and Germany, which are expected to hit 20.1 million and 17.2 million users this year, respectively

Nigeria lifts ban on crypto trading

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy by GDP ranking, has lifted the ban on crypto trading. Last December (2023), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) lifted the ban on transacting in cryptocurrencies, while saying global trends had shown a need to regulate such activities.

The CBN had in February 2021, barred banks and financial institutions from dealing in or facilitating transactions in crypto assets, citing money laundering and terrorism financing risks.

Subsequently the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier in May last year, published regulations for digital assets that signalled the country was trying to find a middle ground between an outright ban on crypto assets and their unregulated use.

Nigeria’s young, tech-savvy population has keenly embraced cryptocurrencies. For example, they use the virtual currency for peer-to-peer trading offered by crypto exchanges to avoid the financial sector.

The New York-based blockchain research firm Chainalysis, said in a report last year that the volume of crypto transactions in Nigeria grew nine percent year-over-year to $56.7 billion between July 2022 and June 2023.