Crypto Market Overview: What Happened in 2022?
The cryptocurrency market plummeted in 2022, wreaking havoc on the community and robbing many investors of large profit chunks. The fall of the crypto empire didn’t happen overnight, though. However, some unforeseen events triggered and accelerated the drop in cryptocurrency value, and even contributed to some cryptos’ downfall.
So, what exactly happened?
Firstly, it’s essential to mention that people tend to take money out of their risky investments when they start worrying about the economy. Those could be stocks, bonds, or in this case, cryptocurrency.
The beginning of 2022 brought nothing but uncertainty. Russia and Ukraine war began and a spike in unemployment due to massive tech layoffs was around the corner, showing the first signs that the world is headed for yet another recession. As a result, crypto holders began selling, causing minor, yet noticeable market fluctuations and disturbances.
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Then the first strike happened. Terra stablecoin got de-pegged from the US dollar, falling as low as $0.000048. Soon after, Terra blockchain was shut down, and its native cryptocurrency was delisted from most exchanges.
Terra’s downfall influenced this domino effect and before you knew it, people started panic selling their assets. With that in mind, crypto prices drastically dropped, starting from Bitcoin, all the way to stablecoins.
After the unfortunate incident, the market tried its best to recover. However, just around the corner was another event that caused a complete crypto market crash. FTX, a former exchange trusted by millions, went insolvent, meaning it wasn’t able to pay off its debts. After investigations, it was determined that the FTX owner moved billions from FTX to his private firm’s accounts. This caused Solana to crash, as FTX was the leading Solana investor and supporter, and the community wasn’t keen on tolerating this loss.
Not a good year, would you say?
How Many People Invested in Crypto in 2022?
Despite facing terrible losses, the crypto community was still active. Some were trying to get rid of their crypto assets and save what was left of their investments. Others, on the other hand, used this opportunity to get their hands on lucrative investment opportunities at a drastically lower price.
- The crypto market cap amounted to $829 billion in 2022.
Although the crypto market still had an impressive market cap of $829 billion on January 1st, 2023, it was, according to Coin Gecko’s annual crypto report, roughly 64% lower than at the beginning of 2022. The first day of 2022 was marked by a market cap of $2.3 trillion, and this difference in crypto volume and value illustrates the magnitude of loss suffered by the crypto community.
- The average daily trading volume in 2022 was around $86.0 billion.
As mentioned earlier, some crypto holders were involved in panic selling, resulting in minor trading volume spikes. However, the average 24-hour volume in 2022 had been dropping since the beginning of the year. A report from Coin Gecko showcases that average daily trading volume fell to $59.2 billion in Q4 from $88.1 billion in Q3 by a 32.8% margin.
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- As of 2023, TripleA report featuring crypto statistics estimates that global crypto ownership rates are at an average of 4.2%, resulting in over 420 million crypto users globally.
The global crypto user base has been increasing exponentially. BCG’s report estimates that a billion people worldwide will use crypto by 2030.
- Furthermore, TripleA’s report showcases that the USA is the number one country by crypto users in 2023, with roughly 46 million crypto holders.
The next in line is India, with roughly 27 million crypto holders within the country, followed by Pakistan (26 million), Nigeria (22 million), and Vietnam (20 million crypto users).
Crypto User Demographic: Who Is Most Likely to Own Crypto?
- Statista’s survey on crypto adoption in the US as of November 2022 showcases that men were nearly three times more likely to hold crypto compared to women.
Unfortunately, research on crypto users isn’t conducted or updated regularly, so only the biggest players in the industry are the first, and oftentimes the only, to share their user demographics. That said, the latest crypto statistics involving users revolve around the US. Still, some earlier reports from the beginning of 2022 estimate that, at the time of publishing, the crypto holders’ global community was composed of around 63% men and roughly 37% women.
- As of September 2022, men in the US were roughly three times more likely to hold crypto than women.
Statista’s crypto statistics shows that, in the time frame of three months prior to November 2022, 74% of participants who owned crypto were men. That said, 26% of Statista’s survey respondents who owned crypto in the US were women.
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- The same crypto statistics provided by Statista show that 53% of respondents holding crypto in the US were 18-34 years old.
Furthermore, 35% of Statista’s respondents claiming to own crypto were between 35 and 54 years old. Only 12% of crypto holders in the US surveyed for Statista’s crypto statistics were 55 years and older.
Which Cryptocurrencies Had the Highest Market Cap in 2022?
- According to Statista’s report, Bitcoin had a market cap of $322.47 billion in 2022.
At the end of 2022, Ethereum had a market cap of $152.81 billion. The next in line was Tether, with a market cap of $68.27 billion.
- Statista report shows that BNB finished 2022 with a market cap of $45.36 billion.
Similarly, the market cap of the USD Coin amounted to $43.89 billion in 2022. Another stablecoin, Binance USD, had a market cap of $23 billion at the end of 2022. Other honorable mentions are XRP, Cardano, and Dogecoin, with market caps of $18.75, $11.91, and $10.95 billion, respectively.
