The idea of anonymous cryptographic electronic money had long since been postulated, but it wasn’t until 2009 that decentralized cryptocurrency Bitcoin was first created. Namecoin, Litecoin, and Peercoin followed in the proceeding years and cryptocurrency began to gain momentum.
By the end of 2013, there were over 50 different cryptocurrencies. And by the end of 2014, this figure had increased by approximately 10x to over 500.
Today, there are over 10,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation.
But how did the financial landscape reach this point? And where is it heading?
This roundup will reveal key facts and figures on the state of crypto right now.
Here’s a summary of what you’ll find below:
- Cryptocurrency Statistics (Top Picks)
- How Many Cryptocurrencies Are There In 2024?
- Growth Of Cryptocurrency Over Time
- Crypto Usage Demographics
- Top 20 Cryptos By Market Cap
- How Many Cryptocurrency Exchanges Are There?
Crypto Space Statistics (Top Picks)
- There are 13,217total cryptocurrencies
- The total market cap of all cryptocurrencies is $1.32 trillion
- The trading volume of all cryptocurrencies per 24 hours is currently $172 billion
- Bitcoin has the highest current market cap at approximately $650billion – around 3x its closest rival Ethereum
- Two of the top 10 cryptocurrencies are directly peggedto USD value – Tether, USDC
- Approximately 8% of the US population trades cryptocurrency
- As a continent, Asia has over 4x more cryptocurrency users than any other continent
- 95% of crypto holders/crypto-curious people are aware of Bitcoin
Sources: CoinGecko,CoinMarketCap, investing.com, Triple-a
How Many Cryptocurrencies Are There in 2023?
As of March 2024, there are 13,217cryptocurrencies in existence.
However, not all cryptocurrencies are active or valuable. Discounting many “dead” cryptos leaves only around 8,985active cryptocurrencies.
There are around 420 million cryptocurrency users across the globe. And approximately 18,000 businesses now accept a form of crypto as payment.
Sources: CoinGecko, investing.com, Triple-A
Growth of Cryptocurrency Over Time
In less than a decade, cryptocurrency has exploded onto the scene and has grown at an ever-increasing rate. The following section will highlight some of its dramatic growth with snapshots of the decentralized finance landscape at various points in time.
Before we get into that, here is a quick overview of the total number of legit cryptocurrencies listed on CoinMarketCap from 2013 to today:
| Month, Year | Number of Cryptocurrencies |
| April 2013 | 7 |
| January 2014 | 67 |
| January 2015 | 501 |
| January 2016 | 572 |
| January 2017 | 636 |
| January 2018 | 1,359 |
| January 2019 | 2,086 |
| January 2020 | 2,403 |
| January 2021 | 4,154 |
| January 2022 | 8,714 |
| January 2023 | 8,856 |
| January 2023 | 9,002 |
| March 2024 | 13,217* |
* According to CoinGecko
2013
In April 2013, there were just seven cryptocurrencies reported by Coin Market Cap. Bitcoin led the way in terms of market capitalization with almost 20x the value of any other cryptocurrency.
Here is a breakdown of the state of play almost a decade ago:
| Rank | Currency | Abbr. | Price (2 d.p.)* | Market Cap |
| 1 | Bitcoin | BTC | $134.21 | $1.49 billion |
| 2 | Litecoin | LTC | $4.35 | $74.64 million |
| 3 | Peercoin | PPC | $0.39 | $7.25 million |
| 4 | Namecoin | NMC | $1.11 | $6.00 million |
| 5 | Terracoin | TRC | $0.65 | $1.50 million |
| 6 | Devcoin | DVC | $0.0003* | $1.42 million |
| 7 | Novacoin | NVC | $4.25 | $1.16 million |
* Excluding Devcoin
2014
Fast-forward a year and a half to November 2014, and there were 513 cryptocurrencies in existence.
Bitcoin remained the dominant force, now with a market cap of around $5.13 billion. Only Litecoin ($122.63 million market cap) and Peercoin ($16.26 million market cap) remained in the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap.
The rest of the original seven had made way for the likes of XRP ($346.22 million market cap) and Dogecoin ($23.30 million market cap).
At this stage, Bitcoin’s price had more than doubled to $378.05. And approximately 76,000 merchants accepted Bitcoin worldwide.
2015
One year later, the cryptocurrency landscape hadn’t changed so drastically. Nevertheless, there were 564 cryptocurrencies at the end of November 2015.
Bitcoin’s market cap increased to over $5.5 billion, while November 2014’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, XRP, fell to approximately $144.18 million.
In total, seven of November 2014’s largest cryptos by market cap remained in the top 10 a year later. These were:
- Bitcoin - Approximately $406 million market cap increase
- Litecoin - Approximately $37 million market cap increase
- XRP - Approximately $202 million market cap decrease
- Bitshares - Approximately $39 million market cap decrease
- Dogecoin - Approximately $10 million market cap decrease
- Peercoin - Approximately $6 million market cap decrease
- Dash - Approximately $1 million market cap increase
The most notable newcomer to the top ten was Ethereum with a market cap of $65.98 million.
2016
By the end of 2016, there were 663 cryptocurrencies in existence.
Bitcoin’s price reached a three-year high of almost $900, increasing nearly 3x on November 2015’s price.
The best-performing cryptocurrencies by market cap increase for the year were as follows:
- Bitcoin ($14.59 billion) - Market cap increase of approximately 2.5x
- Ethereum ($638 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 8x
- Ripple ($232 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 1.1x
- Litecoin ($212 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 1.5x
- Monero ($134 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 28x
- Ethereum Classic ($91 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 2x
- Dash ($71 million) - Market cap increase of approximately 4.5x
2017
By mid-2017 (April 30th to be exact) a further 126 cryptocurrencies were now being traded, bringing the total number up to 789.
Ethereum’s market cap had skyrocketed more than 1000% in just four months to over $7.2 billion. Likewise, XRP also saw a large increase from approximately $232 million to $1.96 billion.
Despite the healthy growth, there were (and are) several factors keeping cryptocurrency from mass adoption.
2018
A year later, the number of cryptocurrencies had surged to more than double. The success of blockchain technology and varied use of coins continued to lead to further market growth.
By the end of 2018, there were 2,073 cryptocurrencies. And 12 of those had a market cap of over $1 billion.
Here is a look at the top five cryptocurrencies by market cap as we went into 2019:
| Rank | Currency | Abbr. | Price (2 d.p.) | Market Cap |
| 1 | Bitcoin | BTC | $3,865.95 | $67.48 billion |
| 2 | XRP | XRP | $0.37 | $15.08 billion |
| 3 | Ethereum | ETH | $139.86 | $14.56 billion |
| 4 | Bitcoin Cash | BCH | $163.62 | $2.87 billion |
| 5 | EOS | EOS | $2.68 | $2.43 billion |
2019
A November 2019 article indicated there were almost 3,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation at the time of writing.
However, some sources were reporting figures closer to 6,000. This discrepancy was (and is) a result of differing review processes for a range of criteria.
For example, test cryptos and joke cryptos are often quickly abandoned but may appear on some listings. To combat this, trade volume and market caps are often used as determining factors when calculating the true number of active cryptocurrencies.
During the course of 2019, Bitcoin’s market cap surpassed the $100 billion mark, ending at $134.57 billion. Despite this, the number of cryptocurrencies with a market cap exceeding $1 billion dropped to nine.
2020
The pandemic did little to halt the increase of cryptocurrencies hitting the market. By April, there were a reported 5,392 cryptos being traded.
According to CoinMarketCap, the top 10 cryptocurrencies combined for a total market cap of almost $200 billion. And Bitcoin was responsible for over $140 billion of this valuation.
Having seen a small drop to nine in 2019, the total number of cryptocurrencies with a market cap of over $1 billion stood at 28 by the end of 2020.
These four cryptos each exceeded $10 billion in market caps:
- Bitcoin - $488.21 billion
- Ethereum - $77.83 billion
- Tether - $20.73 billion
- XRP - $12.85 billion
2024
Flash forward to today, there are now 13,217cryptocurrencies in circulation. However, many of these are inactive or completely worthless.
Chances are, as you read this, that figure is already an underestimate as more ICOs happen each week.
The thousands of cryptos we have today can be most simply broken down into three categories:
- Bitcoin - the market leader and original cryptocurrency
- Altcoin - Alternatives to Bitcoin (not necessarily similar)
- Tokens - Cryptocurrencies using pre-existing blockchains
The evolution of cryptocurrency has come a long way in a relatively short space of time. To illustrate just that, here is a comparison of the first seven cryptocurrencies in 2013 compared to now:
| Currency | 2013 Rank | 2013 Market Cap | 2013 Price (2 d.p.) | 2024 Rank* | 2024 Market Cap | 2024 Price (2 d.p.) | Market Cap Change | Price Change (2 d.p.) |
| Bitcoin | 1 | $1.29 billion | $115.91 | 1 | $1.41 trillion | $72,045 | ↑ $1.12 trillion | ↑ $71,929.09 |
| Litecoin | 2 | $62.3 million | $3.59 | 20 | $7.28 billion | $97.94 | ↑ $7.27 billion | ↑ $94.35 |
| Namecoin | 3 | $6.29 million | $1.15 | 1,194 | $8.02 million | $0.54 | ↑ $1.73 million | ↓ $0.61 |
| Peercoin | 4 | $5.72 million | $0.30 | 1,098 | $10.46 million | $0.36 | ↑ $4.74 million | ↑ $0.06 |
| Terracoin | 5 | $1.37 million | $0.57 | 2,631 | - | - | - | - |
| Devcoin | 6 | $1.05 million | $0.00 | - | - | - | - | - |
| Novacoin | 7 | $1.02 million | $3.69 | 7,392 | $164,000 | $0.04 | ↓ $0.86 million | ↓ $3.65 |
All figures are accurate as of March 12, 2024.
Sources: CoinMarketCap 1,CoinMarketCap 2, investing.com, Bank of Canada, CoinDesk, TechCrunch
Crypto Usage Demographics
The average cryptocurrency owner is a white 38-year-old male with a $111,000 annual salary.
Here is the breakdown of Gemini’s 2021 survey on crypto usage:
- 71% of crypto holders identify as white/caucasian
- Three-quarters (74%) of crypto holders are male
- Almost three in four (74%) of crypto owners are between 25 and 44 years old
- Approximately 63% of people are “crypto-curious”
- Of those who identify as “crypto-curious”, 53% are female
Cryptocurrency Awareness
The 2021 Gemini report also shed light on the knowledge and awareness of cryptocurrency. In total, 39% of people who do not own crypto described themselves as “somewhat or very” knowledgeable about crypto.
Here are some interesting findings about specific cryptocurrencies:
- Just 1 in 20 crypto owners/crypto-curious people have not heard of Bitcoin
- Over one-third (38%) are aware of Ethereum
- Less than 1 in 4 (24%) know about Bitcoin Cash
- 16% of participants claim to have heard of Litecoin
- Approximately 1 in 10 (11%) are aware of Tether
- Just 1 in 50 (2%) surveyed know of Cardano or Polkadot
Continents by Cryptocurrency Usage
- 1. Asia - Approximately 263 million crypto users
- 2. North America - Approximately 57million crypto users
- 3. Africa - Approximately 38 million crypto users
- 4.South America - Approximately33 million crypto users
- 5. Europe - Approximately 31 million crypto users
- 6. Oceania - Approximately 1 million crypto users
Top 5 Countries by Cryptocurrency Usage
- 1. India - Approximately 94 million crypto users
- 2. China - Approximately 59million crypto users
- 3. US - Approximately53 million crypto users
- 4.Vietnam - Approximately 21 million crypto users
- 5. Pakistan - Approximately16 million crypto users
Top 20 Cryptos by Market Cap
Many cryptocurrencies have become household names over the past decade. The most noteworthy of which, without a doubt, is Bitcoin, which comfortably leads the way in terms of market cap.
Here is a full breakdown of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap:
| Rank | Currency | Abbr. | Price | Market Cap |
| 1 | Bitcoin | BTC | $72,045 | $1.41 trillion |
| 2 | Ethereum | ETH | $4,009 | $481 billion |
| 3 | Tether | USDT | $1 | $102.4 billion |
| 4 | BNB | BNB | $528.18 | $79 billion |
| 5 | Solana | SOL | $150.85 | $66.9 billion |
| 6 | XRP | XRP | $0.70 | $38.3 billion |
| 7 | USDC | USDC | $1 | $30.35 billion |
| 8 | Cardano | CAR | $0.75 | $26.5 billion |
| 9 | Dogecoin | DOGE | $0.17 | $24.5 billion |
| 10 | SHIBA INU | SHIB | $0.00 | $19.2 billion |
| 11 | Avalanche | AVAX | $48.2 | $18.2 billion |
| 12 | Polkadot | DOT | $10.66 | $13.8 billion |
| 13 | Toncoin | TON | $3.61 | $12.5 billion |
| 14 | Chainlink | LINK | $20.51 | $12 billion |
| 15 | Polygon | MATIC | $1.19 | $11.8 |
| 16 | TRON | TRX | $0.13 | $11.6 billion |
| 17 | Bitcoin Cash | BCH | $428.74 | $8.4 billion |
| 18 | Uniswap | UNI | $14.05 | $8.4 billion |
| 19 | NEAR Protocol | NEAR | $7.17 | $7.5 billion |
| 20 | Litecoin | LTC | $98.15 | $7.3 billion |
All figures accurate as of March 12, 2024.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Key Statistics on the top 20 cryptos right now
- Bitcoin has the highest current market cap at over $1.4 trillion - over 3x more than its closest rival Ethereum
- Together, Bitcoin and Ethereum have a market cap of almost4x the size of the rest of the top 20 cryptocurrencies combined
- The top five cryptocurrencies each have a market cap of over $60 billion
- Only two of the top 20 cryptocurrencies have a per-token price higher than $1,000 – Bitcoin and Ethereum
- 9 of the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap are priced at under $5
- 2 of the top 20 cryptocurrencies are directly peggedto USD value – Tether and USDC
Sources: CoinMarketCap, investing.com
How Many Cryptocurrency Exchanges Are There?
Naturally, as the number of cryptocurrencies has increased, so too has the number of cryptocurrency exchanges.
As of March 2024, there are724 exchanges. That figure is up from 671 in November 2023.
Here is a closer look at the top five decentralized exchanges (according to coingmarketcap.com) right now:
| CMC Rank | Exchange | 24hr Trading Volume | Markets | Coins |
| 1 | Binance | $43.4 billion | 1,525 | 402 |
| 2 | Coinbase Exchange | $6.09 billion | 394 | 241 |
| 3 | Bybit | $6.19 billion | 805 | 560 |
| 4 | OKX | $6.05 billion | 644 | 319 |
| 5 | Upbit | $9.2 billion | 296 | 190 |
All figures are accurate as of March 12, 2024.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Conclusion
That wraps up the state of cryptocurrency today. Specifically, the number of cryptocurrencies that currently exist.
Cryptocurrency has exploded into the general consciousness. And while there has been a fair amount of fluctuation, the general market is only going one way (up), with Bitcoin still leading the charge.
For other related blog posts, have a look at Top 5 Cryptocurrency Trends and Top 5 DeFi trends.
