Most popular currencies in 2024
Most respondents in our study bought cryptocurrencies for the first time in 2020 and 2021, but fewer people have joined the market since then due to poor performance in 2022. Blockchain adoption accelerated in 2020 and 2021 due to the impressive price performance on crypto exchanges driven by Bitcoin’s third supply halving on May 11, 2020.
Supply halvings are programmed into Bitcoin’s software to occur every four years. As the name suggests, the new supply of Bitcoin issued every ten minutes on average is cut in half. The 2020 halving reduced new Bitcoin supplies by 12.5 BTC for each new block of transactions to 6.25 BTC. The halving in 2024 will reduce new supplies to 3,125 BTC.
Another critical factor in 2020 and 2021 has been the flight of investors to Bitcoin and other deflationary blockchain currencies to hedge against global inflation and geopolitical risk during the pandemic.
As Bitcoin’s new supply fell 50%, the Federal Reserve increased the supply of dollars by 20% in the first six months of 2020 as part of an emergency monetary stimulus aimed at containing the recession pandemic. Due to supply and demand, Bitcoin appreciated rapidly against the dollar.
Since Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency launched in 2009 and holds over 50% of the crypto market share by market cap, it remains the center of gravity for other cryptos’ prevailing exchange rates such as Ethereum, Ripple, Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
What are the most popular cryptocurrencies in 2024?
Percentage of current owners holding various currencies, by year
| What cryptocurrencies do you currently own? | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | 76% | 78% | 77% |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 54% | 58% | 65% |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | 26% | ||
| Shiba Inu (SHIB) | 12% | 18% | 19% |
| Cardano (ADA) | 12% | 14% | 19% |
| US dollar coin (USDC) | 12% | 10% | 12% |
| Stellar (XLM) | 12% | 14% | 16% |
| Solana (SOL) | 11% | 10% | 11% |
| Binance Coin (BNB) | 10% | 6% | 6% |
| Ripple (XRP) | 9% | 7% | 6% |
| Tether (USDT) | 7% | 5% | 5% |
| Avalanche (AVAX) | 5% | 6% | 5% |
| Terra (LUNA) | 4% | 2% | 3% |
| Other | 9% |
In our 2024 study, we found that Bitcoin ownership remains the popular favorite, with around three in four crypto owners holding BTC.
Although it remains the second most popular cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH) ownership rates have dropped significantly from 65% at the end of 2021 to 54% at the end of 2023. Due to widespread interest for the Ethereum merger completed on September 15, 2022, To change the way Ethereum secures ETH, many crypto adopters saw this as a good year to own Ether.
But since then, competition from other crypto smart contracts like Solana (SOL) and Binance Coin (BNB) – as well as stubbornly high transaction fees – have led to a decline in ETH ownership rates.
Meanwhile, we saw Ripple (XRP) ownership rates among crypto enthusiasts increase from seven percent to nine percent throughout 2023 after Ripple Labs won its case in court against an SEC lawsuit. Despite a significant victory, the trial is still not concluded and will go to trial in April 2024.
Among current cryptocurrency owners, about 63% hope to obtain more cryptocurrencies in the next year. Here are the main currencies they plan to invest in:
- Bitcoin: Supply is halving this year just as an expected ETF product creates an on-ramp to the traditional market for regulated investors and piques their interest.
- Ethereum: Crypto consumers are expecting another Ethereum upgrade to increase speed and lower fees while they wait for the one-time Ethereum ETF launch by BlackRock, Inc.
- Dogecoin:– DOGE does not have a halving like BTC, but the same cutting-edge 256-bit encryption technique secures it.
- Gimbal: ADA has been a competitor to ETH since the addition of smart contracts in September 2021. In 2024, the project plans to formalize its governance ideals in the form of smart contract code.
