State of Crypto: 2024

Key insights

7 takeaways

01
Monthly active crypto addresses reached an all-time high of 220 million, with 100 million on Solana and 6 million on Ethereum.See it on page 6
02
The document estimates 30-60 million monthly active users, which it says is only 5-10% of crypto owners, estimated at 617 million globally.See it on page 8
03
Stablecoin transaction volume in Q2 2024 was $8.5 trillion across 1.1 billion transactions, compared with $3.96 trillion for Visa.See it on page 34
04
DeFi and stablecoins account for 34% and 32% of daily active addresses across all blockchains.See it on page 33
05
The cost to send USD internationally via USDC on Base L2 was less than $0.01 based on the September 2024 average gas price.See it on page 24
06
The EU's MiCA framework goes fully into effect in December 2024, described as the EU's first comprehensive regulatory framework involving crypto assets and related service providers.See it on page 14
07
The document reports that 25% of Americans aged 18-34 own crypto, while 40+ million Americans own crypto overall, per Morning Consult as of April 2024.See it on page 12

Summary

This is a16z crypto's "State of Crypto 2024" presentation, covering the state of the crypto industry through September 30, 2024, with figures drawn from sources including Dune, Artemis, Sensor Tower, Morning Consult, Polymarket, and a16z's own Builder Energy Dashboard. It is organized into six sections: 'How big is crypto today?', 'Crypto has become a key political issue', 'Infrastructure is maturing', 'Key applications are emerging', 'What we know about crypto's builders', and 'What's next for crypto?'. Monthly active crypto addresses reached an all-time high of 220 million, with Solana at 100 million and Ethereum at 6 million. The document estimates 30-60 million monthly active users, which it says is only 5-10% of crypto owners. Regulatory progress is highlighted, including Wyoming's DUNA law, the FIT21 bill passing the House in May 2024, and the EU's MiCA regulation going fully into effect in December 2024. Stablecoin transaction volume is described as larger than that of PayPal and Visa in Q2 2024, with stablecoins at $8.5 trillion versus Visa's $3.96 trillion. In the category breakdown of daily active addresses across all blockchains, DeFi and stablecoins account for 34% and 32%. Prediction market volume on Polymarket is shown rising sharply around the 2024 election.