The number of Bitcoin and Ethereum addresses with at least $1,000 grew by over 27%, even as prices fell in 2022.
Last year, prices of the largest cryptocurrencies lost more than half their value amid the bear market and major debacles. Bitcoin (BTC) price fell by 64.2% over the year, from $46,320 on January 1 to $16,604 on December 31. Over the same period, ether (ETH) experienced a slightly higher decrease of 67.5%, from $3,686 to $1,199.
In spite of the selloff, there was a steady increase in the number of addresses with more than or equal to 0.1 BTC (≥0.1 BTC) and 1 ETH (≥1 ETH), which minimally amounted to 1,000 USD throughout the year.
The number of ≥0.1 BTC addresses rose by 27.5% over the year, from 3.40 million on January 1, to 4.20 million on December 31. Meanwhile, the number of ≥1 ETH addresses rose by 28.1%, from 1.41 million to 1.73 million.
On a quarterly basis, the number of ≥0.1 BTC addresses rose on average by 7.3%, compared to 25.0% decreases in price. Similarly, the number of ≥1 ETH addresses rose on average by 7.0%, compared to 18.7% decreases in price.
This suggests that market participants are accumulating or holding on to their crypto investments, which in turn signals confidence in the industry’s future. The increase in addresses also potentially indicates more participants entering the space and driving cryptocurrency adoption.
Q4 2022 recorded the highest quarterly growth in addresses with over $1,000
Despite the FTX collapse and fallout in November last year, Q4 experienced the highest crypto adoption, in terms of the growth in ≥0.1 BTC and ≥1 ETH addresses.
The number of ≥0.1 BTC addresses increased from 3.83 million in the third quarter, to 4.20 million in the fourth quarter, representing a 9.7% growth quarter-on-quarter (QoQ).
Over the same period, the number of ≥1 ETH addresses increased from 1.57 million to 1.73 million, representing a 10.4% growth QoQ.
The relatively higher percentage growth for ≥1 ETH addresses might be due to positive sentiments on the back of Ethereum’s successful Merge in September, and anticipation for its upcoming Shanghai upgrade.
Bitcoin remains the more popular cryptocurrency among crypto holders
The number of ≥1 ETH addresses grew at a slightly faster rate than ≥0.1 BTC addresses last year, with a difference of 0.6 percentage points.
Nevertheless, Bitcoin continues to be the more widely-held cryptocurrency, outperforming Ethereum in popularity.
In absolute terms, the number of ≥0.1 BTC addresses grew by 0.91 million last year, more than twice the 0.38 million gained for ≥1 ETH addresses. By the end of the year, the number of ≥0.1 BTC addresses had reached 4.20 million, outstripping the number of ≥1 ETH addresses by 2.4 times.
One possible reason is that BTC is intended to be ‘digital gold’ and therefore more commonly used as a store of value. In addition, BTC has a first mover advantage in crypto adoption, since Bitcoin was created in 2009 and preceded Ethereum by six years.
Methodology
The study compares the number of addresses with ≥0.1 BTC and ≥1 ETH, against their prices, in 2022. Figures stated for each quarter were that of the last day, in the respective quarters. Data for the number of addresses were from Glassnode, and prices were from CoinGecko.
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Curious to know more about the state of crypto in 2022? Check out our comprehensive 2022 Annual Crypto Industry Report, that extensively covers everything from the crypto market landscape to analyzing Bitcoin and Ethereum, DeFi and NFT ecosystems, and more!
Yuqian is a crypto research analyst at CoinGecko, covering a range of topics from NFTs to ETFs, crypto adoption and interest, and beyond. She's especially fascinated by the philosophical and socioeconomic aspects of crypto. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences with Honors from the National University of Singapore. Follow the author on Twitter @solosbrqt
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