Researchers from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently released a report in which they estimated that the number of cryptocurrency users might reach one billion by the year 2030. Based on the findings of a collaborative study conducted by BCG, Bitget, and Foresight Ventures, it was determined that the cryptocurrency market is still in the early stages of the adoption curve.
According to the findings of the survey, only 0.3% of individual wealth is held in cryptocurrency, in contrast to the 25% of the wealth that is invested in equities. On the other hand, it forecasted that the comparatively low level of penetration just shows that there is an opportunity for expansion. This is very similar to the conclusion that was reached in a report that was published by the major American financial institution Wells Fargo.
Crypto Riding The Same Tide As Internet In The 1990s
The Global Investment Strategy Team of the bank stated earlier this year in a paper titled “Understanding Cryptocurrency” that the current phase of cryptocurrency was comparable to that of the Internet during the mid-to-late 1990s. Additionally, the team noted that the sector was in its “hyper-adoption phase.”
The BCG report extended the analogy made by the Wells Fargo paper between crypto and earlier iterations of the internet to the subsequent stage in the development of digital technology known as Web 3.0. It was mentioned that if we are using the number of cryptocurrency holders as a reference for Web 3 users and compare it against the rate of adoption of internet users in the 1990s, the point is clear: there will be plenty of expansion to come. Even if it is hard to anticipate if the trend of crypto acceptance continues, the total number of cryptocurrency users is expected to reach 1 billion by 2030, according to the survey.
Crypto Native Funds Picking Up Momentum
While arguing for the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in the near future, the BCG report emphasized that individual investors are the largest holders of cryptocurrencies, further underlining the development of institutional involvement in cryptocurrencies. According to the paper, institutional crypto investors consist of hedge funds and venture capitalists, and it was detailed that these players had nearly doubled their exposure to $70 billion between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the end of 2021.
As a consequence of this, the ECB’s research forecast that allocations would proceed to increase. In addition, the analysis identified a growing class of crypto-native funds, such as Paradigm and Hashed, that are gaining traction. On the other hand, these VCs are the same ones who took the bulk of the blame for the Terra-Luna debacle.
According to a recent study, venture capital investments in crypto startups dropped to $9.3 billion in the first half of 2022, from $12.5 billion in the same period of the previous year. Subsequently, the publication’s report noted that the South Korean early-stage VC, Hashed, gained a place among the internationally financially weakened VCs. According to April statistics from CoinMarketCap, the Hashed wallet lost more than $3.5 billion in the black swan incident.
