- There are now 617 million global crypto holders, with 60 million monthly active users.
- Stablecoin transaction volumes in Q2 2024 more than doubled Visa’s total for the same period.
- Sending USDC on Base costs less than one cent, compared to $44 for international wire transfers.
As of September 2024, the world has seen a remarkable rise in adoption of digital assets. A16z Crypto’s report reveals that there are 617 million crypto holders worldwide, with 60 million active users each month.
Among the drivers of this surge is the unprecedented usage of stablecoins, which recorded more than $8.5 trillion in transaction volume in Q2 2024 alone, over twice the amount of Visa’s $3.9 trillion in the same period.
Whereas stablecoins have been crypto’s “killer app,” affording fast, inexpensive, global transactions: sending USDC on Base, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, is less than a cent on average, from the costs of traditional wire transfers at $44.
Blockchain Infrastructure Advancements
The report also sums up the evolution of blockchain networks during the past two years. Ethereum’s change to proof-of-stake, in tandem with the rollout of L2 solutions, greatly reduced transaction costs: Ethereum layer-2s like Base, and high-throughput blockchains scaled up and have enabled blockchain networks to process 50 times more transactions per second compared to four years ago.
A16z’s new Builder Energy dashboard indicates that interest in the network, like Solana, from founders has become more remarkable at 11.2%, while Ethereum is capped at the top with 20.8%. This has further increased network efficiency and user adoption.
Crypto in Politics and Global Expansion
Digital assets have also become a key issue in U.S. politics, particularly among swing states heading into the 2024 election. Crypto-related searches have jumped significantly in states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. On a wider scale, mobile wallet usage is on the rise, with the U.S. leading at 12%.
Whereas other countries, such as Nigeria, India, and Argentina, have been driven by rapid adoption due to regulatory clarity and economic factors, the rest of the world is not lagging that far behind. This growing global interest, along with new regulations in development, places stablecoins and other forms of digital assets on course to feature majorly in the future of finance.
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