A recent report by market research firm Chainalytic revealed that global cryptocurrency earnings in 2023 were a staggering $37.6 billion. This increase in earnings reflects improved asset prices and market sentiment compared to 2022.
While this figure is lower than the $159.7 billion gains recorded during the 2021 bull market, it represents a significant recovery from the estimated $127.1 billion losses incurred in 2022.
Cryptocurrency earnings surge
The report suggests that despite similar rates of growth in crypto asset prices in 2021 and 2023, total returns in year two were lower. According to Chainalytic, this discrepancy can potentially be attributed to investors’ reduced willingness to convert their crypto assets into cash.
The analysis further suggests that investors appear to be anticipating further price increases in 2023 as crypto asset prices have not exceeded previous all-time highs (ATH) during the year, as opposed to 2021.
Cryptocurrency price increases have remained relatively steady throughout all but two years of 2023 months of losses in August and September as seen in the image above. However, profits later skyrocketed, and November and December eclipsed all previous months.
The United States leads
The United States was the leader in cryptocurrency profits, with profits estimated at $9.36 billion in 2023. The UK secured second place with cryptocurrency profits estimated at $1.39 billion.
Notably, several upper- and lower-middle-income countries, particularly in Asia, such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia and India, achieved significant gains, each exceeding $1 billion and ranking among the top six countries in the world.
Chainanalysis has previously observed strong adoption of cryptocurrencies in these income categories, particularly in “lower middle income” countries, which have shown resilience even during the recent crisis bear market. Earnings estimates indicate that investors in these countries have benefited significantly from adopting this asset class.
Ultimately, Chainalytic’s report suggests that the positive trends seen in 2023 have carried over into 2024, with major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) hitting an all-time high of $73,700 following Bitcoin’s approval. listed funds (ETF) and increased institutional adoption.
If these trends continue, the company believes it is possible that earnings in 2024 will be more in line with those seen in 2021.
As of this writing, the total valuation of cryptocurrency market capitalization is $2.5 trillion, down sharply by more than 4% in the last 24 hours and down from Thursday’s two-year high of $2.7 trillion. On the other hand, Bitcoin is trading at $68,400 after falling to $65,500, but quickly recovered its current trading price, limiting losses to 4% in the last 24 hours.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
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