Cryptocurrency Statistics 2023

Cryptocurrency is an extremely high-risk and complex investment. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. You are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong. Forbes Advisor has provided this content for educational reasons only and not to help you decide whether or not to invest in Cryptocurrency. Should you decide to invest in Cryptocurrency or in any other investment, you should always obtain appropriate financial advice and only invest what you can afford to lose.

The main cryptocurrencies worldwide

(including market capitalisation and individual token price as of 5 December, 2023, CoinMarketCap)

1. Bitcoin:

Price: $41,719.56
Market Cap: $816,019,061,518

2. Ethereum:

Price: $2,205.83
Market Cap: $265,252,645,486

3. Tether:

Price: $0.9999
Market Cap: $89,814,712,264

4. BNB (Binance Coin):

Price: $229.57
Market Cap: $34,823,334,708

5. XRP (Ripple Network):

Price: $0.6104
Market Cap: $32,890,551,566

Consumer awareness of crypto (FCA)

In 2021, 78% of UK adults had heard of cryptocurrency. In 2021 the number was 73% and in 2019 it was 42%.

Please note, an awareness is by no means an appropriate understanding.

These are the cryptocurrencies people are the most aware of (including those who are aware of none):

Bitcoin: 82%
Ethereum: 14%
Litecoin: 9%
None: 8%
XRP: 5%

Crypto exchanges

(CoinMarketCap, 5 December 2023)

According to Statista, trading volume within the cryptocurrency market as a whole reached a peak of $500 billion on 19 May 2021

At a glance, the trading volume* (24hrs) for some of the four largest crypto exchanges by volume were:

Binance: $14,674,587,066.08
Coinbase Exchange: $2,191,453,431.72
Bybit: $1,276,333,207.66
OKX: $3,822,324,323.37

*Data retrieved from CoinMarket Cap on 6 December, 2023

Trading volume data provided by crypto exchanges is not necessarily an accurate indicator of trading activity as some exchanges have inflated their numbers in order to raise the profile of the exchange and draw in new investors. (Source: Investopedia and Nasdaq.com.)

Who holds cryptocurrency in the UK, and how much?

As of February 2022, 10% of UK adults were estimated to hold or to have held some form of crypto asset (UK GOV):

82% of those currently still hold their asset

This is consistent with research from the FCA stating that nearly 4.97 million people in the UK hold some form of crypto token (FCA)
As of February 2022, 53% of those holding crypto currently hold £1,000 or less in crypto, and 7% hold more than £5,000 (UK GOV)
76% of crypto holders are under 45 years old, and 69% of them are male (UK GOV)

How people reported their crypto investments performed (UK GOV)*

14% reported a loss
14% reported breaking even
63% reported making a profit
Both average profits and losses were reportedly under £500
8% of owners reported profits in excess of £12,500

HMRC survey conducted between 15 February and 22 June 2021

According to a survey from lendingtree.com, conducted in November 2022, a higher percentage of 38% of cryptocurrency investors have reported to lost money rather than profited, 28% say they made a profit, and only 13% broke even.

Be mindful, past performance is not an indicator of future results. Cryptocurrency is an extremely high-risk investment. Should you decide to invest in cryptocurrency, you should always obtain appropriate financial advice and only invest what you can afford to lose.

Understanding of the nature of cryptocurrency (FCA)

While 90% of crypto users understood what cryptocurrency was, only 58% claimed they had, “a good understanding of how cryptocurrencies and the underlying technology works”

12% of crypto users falsely believed that crypto investments have some sort of financial protection.

Amount held in crypto by investors (FCA)

£1-£260: 26.4%
£260 – £1,000: 12.3%
£1,001 – £9,999: 12.3%
£10k +: 6.6%
Unknown (according to the FCA): 42.4%

Amount held in crypto by annual household income (FCA)

1. Under £20k:

£1 – £260: 40%
£260 – £1,000: 5%
£1,001 – £9,999: 7%

2. £20k – £49k:

£1 – £260: 25%
£260 – £1,000
£1,001 – £9,999: 13%
£10k+: 6%

3. £50k – £99,999k:

£1 – £260: 25%
£260 – £1,000: 13%
£1,001 – £9,999: 15%
£10k+: 12%

4. £100k+:

£1 – £260: 18%
£260 – £1,000: 17%
£1,001 – £9,999: 11%
£10k+: 3%

Sentiment regarding cryptocurrency

Crypto payment firm Triple A’s survey indicates that 70% do not invest in cryptocurrency due to a lack of knowledge (Triple A)
68% of crypto holders said they very or somewhat likely to acquire more in the future, vs 10% of those who do not invest in crypto currencies (UK GOV)
52% of crypto holders said they held it as a “fun investment” (UK GOV)

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Tags: Cryptocurrency, Insights