How Many People Own Crypto in the World? - June 2025 Data

More people now own cryptocurrency than live in the EU, the US, and Japan combined. Bitcoin is held by over 100 million people, yet just 94 wallets control more than 10,000 BTC each. Meanwhile, 80% of crypto users want to spend it on daily purchases, not just hold it.

This report breaks down who owns crypto, where it’s spreading fastest, and why these trends matter. If you're a crypto holder, investor, or journalist, the insights inside will reshape how you think about the future of digital assets.

How many people invest in crypto?

Imagine every person in the entire European Union, the United States, and Japan combined holding cryptocurrency; that's the scale of 562 million global crypto owners nowadays.

• Global crypto ownership reached 562 million people in 2024.

What percentage of the world population owns cryptocurrency?

• 6.8 percent of people around the world use or hold cryptocurrency.

To understand the reach, consider this: nearly one in every 15 people on Earth now holds cryptocurrency, making it more common than owning a credit card in some countries.

But what are the numbers for the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin?

What percentage of people own Bitcoin?

First of all, we want to explain that any count of Bitcoin users is based on estimates, not direct measurements. Bitcoin is a decentralized system that doesn’t track individual identities. One person can hold multiple wallets, while large exchanges often store funds for millions of users in just a few addresses, making it impossible to link wallets directly to real individuals.

Nevertheless, we can still estimate the number of Bitcoin users by combining on-chain wallet data, reported user counts from major exchanges, and survey-based research on global crypto ownership.

• 1.29% of the world’s population owns Bitcoin, which equals an estimated 106 million people, more than the entire population of the Philippines.

But while some users own a single satoshi, other whales have millions:

Number of Bitcoin addresses by BTC balance:

How many people own 1 Bitcoin?

• 988,627 Bitcoin wallets hold at least one full BTC - almost one million.

How many people own at least 10 Bitcoins?

• 151,657 wallets hold 10 BTC or more.

How many people own more than 100 Bitcoins?

• 18,463 wallets hold 100 BTC or more.

How many people own more than 1,000 Bitcoins?

• 2,100 wallets hold 1,000 BTC or more.

How many people own more than 10,000 Bitcoins?

• 94 wallets hold 10,000 BTC or more.

How many people own more than 100,000 Bitcoins?

• Only 4 wallets hold more than 100,000 BTC in the world.

Bitcoin is more concentrated than people think: just 94 wallets control over 10,000 BTC each, yet 988,627 wallets barely reach one full coin.

Let’s look at the distribution of wallets and wealth among them on the chart below:

Bitcoin wallet distribution vs. BTC owned chart:

This reveals extreme wealth concentration in the Bitcoin ecosystem, where a small handful of entities, likely exchanges, funds, or early adopters, control vast portions of the supply. It underscores Bitcoin’s ongoing identity crisis between being a decentralized asset and a tightly held institutional reserve.

Who is the largest owner of Bitcoin?

• The largest Bitcoin wallet in the world, holding 248,598 BTC (1.25% of all Bitcoin), belongs to Binance’s cold storage address  34xp4vRoCGJym3xR7yCVPFHoCNxv4Twseo
  

Table with distribution of BTC between Bitcoin wallets:

What is the average Bitcoin holding per person?

• The average Bitcoin wallet holds approximately 0.36 BTC.
• The average Bitcoin owner is estimated to hold around 0.57 BTC.

*This is an estimated average per Bitcoin owner; please review the methodology for details on how the figure was calculated.

Widespread wallet ownership doesn’t mean widespread wealth; Bitcoin ownership remains shallow for the majority. It suggests many users dabble in Bitcoin rather than commit to it as a primary store of value or investment vehicle.

While average holdings remain modest, Bitcoin's global footprint continues to expand. Now let’s examine how crypto ownership is distributed across continents.

Crypto ownership by continent

• South America and Oceania experienced the fastest crypto adoption in 2024, each more than doubling their user bases. This reflects growing use of crypto as a financial hedge in regions facing economic instability, inflation, or limited access to traditional banking.
  
  
• Asia continues to lead the world in crypto ownership, with over 326 million users, more than all other continents combined. Its dominance stems from population size, tech-savvy markets, and the widespread use of mobile-first platforms that make crypto more accessible.
  
  
• Africa saw the slowest growth in crypto users at just 8.5%, despite strong demand for remittances and alternative financial tools. 

Is the gender gap real among crypto owners?

• 39% of global crypto owners are women.
• 61% of global crypto owners are men.

How many men own crypto?

• Approximately 343 million men worldwide own cryptocurrency.

How many women own crypto?

• Approximately 219 million women worldwide own cryptocurrency.

Let’s check the distribution of Bitcoin ownership by gender and the gap:

Bitcoin ownership by age and gender

• Men aged 31–35 are the most dominant group in Bitcoin ownership at 41 percent. It shows that peak adoption happens just before midlife.
• Crypto gender gap is widest among 31–35-year-olds, with men outnumbering women nearly four to one. It signals a sharp divide in early financial risk-taking and tech literacy.

Table with BTC ownership by age and gender

There is a clear gender and age gap in Bitcoin ownership. Men dominate across all age groups, especially between 31 and 35, where they outnumber women nearly four to one. At the same time, Bitcoin ownership drops sharply among both genders after age 40, showing that crypto adoption is concentrated among younger adults.

With gender and age shaping who holds Bitcoin, the next question is how these crypto owners actually use their assets. Let’s explore consumer behavior within the crypto community.

Consumer behavior within the crypto community

Sentiment toward crypto payments among crypto owners

• 65% of crypto owners want the option to pay with cryptocurrency when shopping.
• 56% of crypto owners would choose a store that accepts crypto over one that doesn’t.
• 55% of crypto owners say they would shop more often if stores accepted cryptocurrency.
• 43% of crypto owners would spend more if they could pay with crypto.
  
  

Fiat vs. crypto preferences among crypto owners

• 39% of crypto owners prefer to receive payments in cryptocurrency.
• 34% of crypto owners prefer to receive payments in fiat currency.
• 27% of crypto owners want a mix of both crypto and fiat.

Purchase categories crypto owners are most interested in

• 80% of crypto owners are interested in using cryptocurrency to purchase daily retail goods.
• 70% of crypto owners want to spend crypto on travel, hospitality, and leisure services.
• 45% of crypto owners show interest in using crypto for real estate, corporate, or government services.
• 44% of crypto owners are willing to spend crypto on entertainment like games and streaming.
• 32% of crypto owners would use cryptocurrency to buy high-value or specialty goods.

Crypto is no longer just an investment, it’s a payment movement in motion. A staggering 80% of crypto owners want to use it for daily purchases, while over half say they’d shop more or switch stores if crypto were accepted. Nearly 40% even prefer to be paid in crypto, which shows that stablecoins have almost the same level of trust as fiat money.

As consumer demand for real-world crypto utility rises, infrastructure is racing to catch up. The next section looks at how fast businesses are adopting cryptocurrency and where global support is growing.

Growth of the crypto infrastructure

Growth of the crypto infrastructure is reflected in the rapid rise of businesses accepting digital assets. From just 11,000 in mid-2024 to over 16,000 by mid-2025, global crypto merchant adoption shows a steady, accelerating trend.

Growth of crypto merchants globally

• Crypto merchant adoption grew by 48.6 percent in just one year. It signals accelerating real-world use of digital assets.
• The biggest quarterly jump came in early 2025 with 1,500 new merchants. It shows growing business confidence after a year of steady gains.
• From Q2 2024 to Q2 2025, 5,350 new businesses started accepting crypto. That’s nearly 15 new merchants every single day.

How many businesses accept cryptocurrency in 2025?

• More than 16,350 businesses worldwide accept crypto in 2025.

Table with quarterly growth of the number of crypto merchants globally

How many businesses accept Bitcoin by country?

This chart shows the number of businesses in each country that accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

• Brazil leads the world with 1,781 crypto-accepting businesses. It signals Latin America’s frontline role in real-world crypto adoption.
• El Salvador ranks third with 1,166 merchants, beating Germany, the UK, and Canada. It shows national policy can turbocharge grassroots usage.
• Dozens of countries have only one or two crypto merchants. It means global adoption remains deeply uneven despite headline growth.

Table: Top countries by number of Bitcoin-accepting merchants

The rapid spread of crypto-accepting merchants, led by emerging markets like Brazil and El Salvador, reflects a bottom-up shift where real-world adoption outpaces regulation. This signals that businesses see crypto not as hype but as a strategic payment option.

Crypto adoption vs unbanked population by country

Now let’s examine whether crypto adoption aligns with unbanked population rates across countries. Does higher crypto use emerge where fewer people have access to traditional banking? This comparison may reveal if digital assets are stepping in where legacy systems fall short.

• Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines show both high unbanked rates and high crypto adoption. It signals crypto’s growing role as a financial workaround where banks fail.
• UAE, Singapore, and the United States have strong crypto usage despite low unbanked rates. It shows digital assets appeal beyond necessity and tap into wealth and tech affinity.
• Countries like Germany and Ireland have near-zero unbanked rates and low crypto use. It suggests that in stable economies with full banking access, crypto adoption remains optional, not essential.

Table: How many unbanked people use cryptocurrency by country

Crypto adoption does not consistently track with unbanked population rates. While some countries with high unbanked rates turn to crypto as an alternative, others with near-universal banking access also lead in adoption. This suggests crypto’s rise is driven not just by financial exclusion but also by wealth mobility, inflation hedging, tech culture, and regulatory openness.

Insights & Implications:

• Bitcoin is more centralized than expected, with just 94 wallets holding over 10,000 BTC each.

It means that while crypto promotes decentralization, real-world ownership still mimics old financial hierarchies dominated by a few powerful holders.

• South America and Oceania more than doubled their crypto users in one year.

It signals that economic volatility and limited banking access continue to drive crypto adoption faster than tech investment alone.

• 80% of crypto owners want to spend digital assets on everyday purchases.

It shows that crypto is evolving into a functional payment method, not just a speculative asset, and merchants slow to adapt may lose a growing base of customers.

Methodology:

• We used the Bitcoin ownership figure from Bitbo and the global population estimate from the United Nations' World Population Prospects 2024. By dividing 106 million by 8.2 billion and multiplying by 100, we calculated that 1.29 percent of the world’s population owns Bitcoin. This highlights Bitcoin's growing, yet still limited, global adoption.
• We calculated the average wallet holding by dividing the total BTC across all wallets (from the provided distribution table) by the total number of addresses. To estimate average BTC per person, we excluded wallets holding more than 100 BTC (typically exchanges and institutions) and assumed an average of 2.5 wallets per individual. Sources include address and BTC data from the user’s table and ownership modeling based on standard wallet-per-user assumptions from industry studies.

References:

• Bitcoin?, How. How Many People Own, Hold & Use Bitcoins? (2025). https://bitbo.io/how-many-users/. Accessed 6 July 2025.
• "Cryptocurrency Ownership Data." Triple-A – Triple-A, https://www.triple-a.io/cryptocurrency-ownership-data/cryptocurrency-ownership-data. Accessed 6 July 2025.
• Map, BTC. BTC Map - Countries Leaderboard. https://btcmap.org/countries/leaderboard. Accessed 6 July 2025.
• "Report | The Nakamoto Project." The Nakamoto Project, https://www.thenakamotoproject.org/report. Accessed 6 July 2025.
• "The Global Findex Database 2021." World Bank Group, https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/globalfindex. Accessed 6 July 2025.
• https://bitinfocharts.com/top-100-richest-bitcoin-addresses.html.  Accessed 6 July 2025.