key takeaways
- The Cryptocurrency Industry Was Worth Close to $3 Trillion Entering 2022, Now $800 Billion
- There Are 73% Fewer Bitcoin Millionaires After 2022
- Bitcoin retraces 75% from its all-time high of $69,000
- 25% of bitcoin supply entered the year at a loss, now over 50%
- The number of investors holding more than 1 BTC increased by 20% as the barrier became more attainable
The cryptocurrency market was once valued at $3 trillion. To be precise, it was in November 2021, when Bitcoin traded at its all-time high of $69,000.
But then came 2022. Inflation spiked as a result of COVID money printing, the war in Ukraine and supply chain issues, meaning central banks around the world were forced to hike rates to ease the looming cost-of-living crisis.
With cheap liquidity pulled from beneath the markets, bitcoin – and crypto as a whole – felt the pinch. Among the top 10 cryptocurrencies we’ve seen fall, one top exchange House of Cards and many others resulted in bankruptcy and scams.
Losses have been in excess of $2 trillion, with bitcoin accounting for three-quarters of its value at the time of writing, trading at $16,800.
bitcoin millionaire
Bitcoin millionaires are dropping like flies, judging by on-chain data from Bitinfocharts.com. Entering 2022, there were 90,000 addresses holding over a million dollars worth of bitcoin. Today, it’s 24,000 – a drop of 73%.
“It is abundantly clear from one look at the on-chain data bitcoin price charts – that the party is over and investors are no longer dreaming of retirement from their bitcoin holdings in the near future!” Nearly three-quarters of bitcoin millionaires Losing that position is perhaps the best data to summarize how ugly 2022 was for investors. Max Coupland, director of CoinJournal, said.
Percentage of supply in deficit to double in 2022
Bitcoin’s returns before 2022 were surprising. As a result, the vast majority of the supply was in profit, with only 25% of the supply operating at a loss. By the end of the year, it had doubled to more than 50% – another astonishing statistic considering that bitcoin was the best performing asset class in the world over the last decade.
Addresses holding more than 1 BTC
On the flipside, with bitcoin being so much cheaper than it was last year, the number of addresses holding one bitcoin or more — “whole coins,” as they are known — is at an all-time high, even if those addresses contain dollar value. is down.
Entering 2022, there were over 814,000 addresses holding more than 1 BTC. By the end of the year, the number was over 978,000 – a 20% increase.
As can be seen when zooming in on 2022 on the chart below, bitcoin made a significant jump when it fell on the back of three major scandals of 2022 – Luna’s death spiral, Celsius’ bankruptcy and the fraud revelations on FTX. .
Falling prices match falling prices
Perhaps the biggest problem emerging from 2022 is related to these scams. Crypto’s reputation has taken a hit, especially with the shocking collapse of FTX and the discrediting of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
According to a CNBC poll, as of November 2022, only 8% of Americans now have a positive view of cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency investors have seen similar percentage declines before, of course, only to see the market boom. But this time around, crypto is fighting back against a pullback in the broader economy for the first time in its history.
Until now, it was zero (or negative) interest rates and a warm money printer. Now, we’ve transitioned into a new environment, and crypto investors are feeling the pain. They would hope that 2023 could bring a return to prominence and start to repair the reputation of the stricken asset class.
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Research Methodology
Address data is taken from on-chain. Price data from Yahoo Finance.