The number of cryptocurrencies has been constantly growing for almost a decade – hitting an all-time high of over 10 000 in February – but the recent crypto price crash and its subsequent $2-trillion wipeout also caused the biggest drop in the number of cryptos.
According to data presented by TradingPlatforms.com, the total number of cryptocurrencies dropped by 1 100 in the last nine months, the biggest decrease in the market`s history.
The number of digital coins circulating in the crypto space soared over the years, and Statista and Investing.com data shows just how big that growth was. Between 2013 and 2020, the total number of cryptos grew 75 times, jumping from around 60 to over 4 500. Statistics show this number more than doubled in the last two years.
In the first half of 2021, 1 500 new digital coins entered the market, with the total number rising to 6 000 in July. However, in the last months of 2021, the market was adding about 1 000 new cryptocurrencies per month, causing the total number of cryptos to reach 9 900 in January this year.
In February, almost 10 400 cryptocurrencies were circulating in the crypto space, the highest number to date. Still, it has been downhill since then, with the number of cryptos falling to 9 231 as of last week.
Although this represents a 1 100 drop from an all-time high in February, the number of cryptos increased 22% year-over-year. In November 2021, there were over 7 500 available cryptocurrencies, 1 600 less than today.
Besides the most significant cryptocurrency drop in its history, the crypto market has also seen a huge market cap decrease in the past nine months.
According to CoinMarketCap data, the global crypto market cap has plunged by 52% since February, falling from $1,76-trillion to $842,8-billion as of last week – and the Top 5 cryptos make 70% of that value.
The most expensive digital currency globally, Bitcoin, accounts for 36% of the global crypto market cap, with the combined value of all BTC coins standing at $311,7-billion last week, 57% less than in February. Ethereum`s market cap plunged by 55% to $143,2-billion in this period, making around 16% of the total market cap.
Tether, USD Coin, and BNB – the next three biggest cryptos – account for another 18,5% of the global crypto market cap.