The cryptocurrency market has experienced tremendous growth over the past nine years, despite losing more than $1.5 trillion in 2022. According to coinmarketcap.com, there were only 14 cryptocurrency assets in circulation in May 2013, and Bitcoin BTC -0.17%’s market capitalization was just over $1.24 billion. Today, however, the same website lists more than 22,709 crypto assets, and the market capitalization of the crypto economy has grown by 80,466% since 2013.
The Crypto Economy in 2013
In 2013, the crypto economy was still in its early stages, with only a handful of coins in circulation, including bitcoin, litecoin LTC -1.19%, peercoin, namecoin, feathercoin, terracoin, devcoin, freicoin, novacoin, chncoin, bbqcoin, mincoin, bitbar, and ixcoin. 2013 5 The combined value of these crypto assets was just over $1.32 billion in March.
On May 9, 2013, BTC was trading at a much lower price than it is today, as it changed hands at $111.87 per coin. There are only 11.13 million bitcoins in circulation compared to 19.3 million bitcoins today. Litecoin’s market capitalization ranks second at around $59.05 million, followed by Peercoin (PPC) at $5.23 million. Today, the market capitalization of these coins has increased significantly, with Bitcoin becoming the largest crypto asset in circulation.
Today’s Crypto Economy
Today, the cryptoeconomy looks very different, with more than 22,709 cryptoassets in circulation, including ethereum ETH 0.03%, bnb coin, solana SOL -1.46%, cardano ADA -0.45%, tether, usd coin, and avalanche AVAX 0.72%. Stablecoins didn’t exist in 2013, but today they represent $137 billion in value in the current $1.06 trillion cryptoeconomy.
The overall valuation of Bitcoin has also increased significantly, with a market capitalization of more than $893 billion as of March 2023. Additionally, Litecoin’s market cap has grown to $6.79 billion, and Peercoin’s market cap is currently around $13.15 million.
The growth of the crypto economy has not been without challenges, and the market has suffered significant losses in 2022. However, despite the losses, the market capitalization of the crypto economy has grown by more than 80,466% since 2013.
Cryptoeconomic Infrastructure
In 2013, the infrastructure of the crypto economy was still in its early stages, with only a few crypto exchanges and digital currency wallets available. Today, however, the infrastructure of the crypto economy is significantly more developed, with numerous exchanges and wallets for users to choose from.
Despite the challenges the crypto industry faces in 2022, the crypto economy is still a much larger forest than it was in 2013. In less than a decade, the crypto economy has experienced tremendous growth, and few industries have seen an increase of 80,466% in such a short period of time.
