The Litecoin cryptocurrency peaked in both 2017 and 2020 - reaching prices worth around 250 dollars - but did not reach this by 2022. As of March 21, 2025, one Litcoin token was worth 90.93 U.S. dollars. Litecoin's price was relatively volatile in recent years, revealing high price swings between months.What is a cryptocurrency?Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that do not have a centralized regulating authority. The first of these, Bitcoin, introduced a technology called blockchain, in which a distributed ledger records every transaction on every bitcoin in circulation to prevent fraud. Litecoin also uses this technology. To accommodate the demands of constant ledger updates, users sell computational power in exchange for an amount of Litecoin, a process known as mining.More about LitecoinCryptocurrencies are still emerging technology, and few are using them for transactions. As such, most users are speculators who look at the value of all coins in circulation as the market capitalization rather than money supply. Still, the average number of Litecoin transactions ranges in the tens of thousands, meaning that the cryptocurrency has a substantial financial footprint.

Litecoin's market cap in early 2020 was the highest ever-recorded, topping over ten billion U.S. dollars and a value that had increased by 100 percent since August 2020. Market capitalization figures are calculated by multiplying the total number of Litecoin in circulation by the Litecoin price. Compared to both the Bitcoin market capitalization as well as the Ethereum market cap, though, Litecoin's figures were significantly smaller.

After a peak in September 2020, Litecoin saw its transaction volume decrease by nearly 40 percent in the early months of 2021. The cryptocurrency ranks among the oldest digital coins available, and is consistently one of the most traded virtual currencies on the market. Nevertheless, Litecoin is not as popular as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), or Ripple (XRP).

After a dip in September 2020, the transaction fees for Litecoin reveal a steady overall growth well into 2021. Between January 2021 and February 2021, the fee for a transaction involving the LTC cryptocurrency increased by nearly 10 percent. Growing transaction fees refer to both the number of Litecoin transactions that are waiting in line to be processed on the blockchain, and are also meant as an incentive to miners to process these transactions. The number of daily transactions for Litecoin reached over 100,000 in September 2020 - a figure it reached again over the course of February 2021.

Global cryptocurrency market size worth approximately USD 800 Million in 2020. expected to USD 5200 Million by 2028, CAGR 29.5% over the forecast period.

Litecoin mining became more profitable over the course of 2020, and remained on roughly the same level in the early months of 2021. During the mining of cryptocurrencies, a computer is trying to solve complicated logic puzzles to verify transactions in the blockchain. When this process is completed, the miner receives cryptocurrency as a block reward. The underlying dynamic is that machines with more computing power - or hashrate - are likely to solve more puzzles, and therefore mine more cryptocurrencies. Whether a miner can make money with this depends on various costs such as electricity consumption during this process, transaction fees or whether the hardware used is efficient or not.

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Cryptocurrency Market Size 2025-2029

The cryptocurrency market size is forecast to increase by USD 39.75 billion at a CAGR of 16.7% between 2024 and 2029.

The market continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace, driven by increasing investment in digital assets and growing acceptance by retailers as a legitimate form of currency. According to recent reports, global investment in cryptocurrencies reached an all-time high in 2020, with institutional investors leading the charge. This trend is expected to continue, as more financial institutions explore the benefits of cryptocurrencies for portfolio diversification and transaction settlement. However, the market's volatility remains a significant challenge for both investors and businesses. The value of cryptocurrencies can fluctuate dramatically in a short period, making it difficult to predict future trends and assess risk. Despite this, many companies are finding ways to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the market. For instance, some retailers have begun accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment, while others are exploring blockchain technology to streamline transactions and enhance security. To navigate this complex and dynamic market, companies must stay informed about the latest trends and developments. This includes keeping abreast of regulatory changes, technological advancements, and market sentiment. By doing so, they can position themselves to take advantage of emerging opportunities and mitigate potential risks. Overall, the market offers significant potential for growth and innovation, but also presents unique challenges that require careful planning and strategic foresight.

What will be the Size of the Cryptocurrency Market during the forecast period?

Request Free SampleThe market, driven by the underlying technology of blockchain, represents a decentralized currency system that has gained significant global adoption as a digital alternative to traditional fiat currencies. With a total market capitalization surpassing USD2 trillion, this dynamic market is characterized by price volatility, presenting both opportunities and risks for investors. Theft and security concerns, regulatory outlook, and energy consumption with environmental effects are among the challenges faced by this industry. Skilled developers and financial services institutions are increasingly embracing this digital revolution, leveraging blockchain technology to create innovative consumer protection solutions and ensure financial stability. Meanwhile, the rise of decentralized systems and public ledgers has given way to the proliferation of digital assets, leading to an influx of fraudulent investments. Renewable energy sources and blockchain talent are becoming essential components of the cryptocurrency ecosystem as the industry strives to address concerns related to energy consumption and environmental effects.

How is this Cryptocurrency Industry segmented?

The cryptocurrency industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments. TypeBitcoinEthereumOthersRippleBitcoin CashCardanoComponentHardwareSoftwareProcessMiningTransactionMiningTransactionEnd-UseTradingE-commerce and RetailPeer-to-Peer PaymentRemittanceTradingE-commerce and RetailPeer-to-Peer PaymentRemittanceGeographyNorth AmericaUSCanadaEuropeGermanyItalySwitzerlandThe NetherlandsUKAPACChinaJapanSouth AmericaBrazilMiddle East and Africa

By Type Insights

The bitcoin segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, is a decentralized digital currency valued at over USD470 billion. It operates on a peer-to-peer (P2P) system without central authorities. The top four stablecoins, Tether, USD Coin, Binance USD, and DAI, are directly pegged to the US dollar and collectively hold a significant market share. In the US, approximately 8% of the population engages in cryptocurrency trading. Bitcoin, as a digital asset, is created, stored, processed, and transferred using blockchain technology – a decentralized system. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin also follow this model. The market is evolving, with financial services increasingly adopting digital assets for transactions, investments, and consumer protection. Blockchain technology powers digital wallets, crypto exchanges, and smart contracts, enabling decentralized finance, token offerings, and decentralized applications. The market is subject to price volatility and theft risk, necessitating wallet security and regulatory compliance. Energy consumption and environmental effects are areas of concern, with renewable energy solutions emerging. Skilled developers are in high demand for cre

Mining Litecoin was as difficult in March 2021 as it was in September 2020, as more computing power was used to create this cryptocurrency. Hashing refers to the amount of processing power that PCs use to build the blockchain: the more blocks of verified transactions that are processed or "hashed", the more cryptocurrency - the reward for this verification process - is being mined. A higher mining difficulty means more miners are trying to get this cryptocurrency and essentially shows how much computing power is being applied to mine this particular virtual coin.

At the end of December 2024, the Ethereum cryptocurrency had been processed well to 39 million times on-chain that month. This was about three times that of the more commonly known rival Bitcoin, which saw a total of 12.7 million transactions that month. Other leading cryptocurrencies also saw significantly less transaction activity. What kind of transactions were these? Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies which owe their credibility to their technology rather than a central bank. Many of the transactions in this statistic involve cryptocurrency exchanges which exchange these coins for other currencies, including traditional currencies such as U.S. dollars or euros. In selected countries, Bitcoin ATMs also dispense the local currency in exchange for Bitcoin. However, few retailers accept that or any other cryptocurrency on a large scale. Cryptocurrency as an investment Many cryptocurrency enthusiasts point to the high market capitalization of their favorite cryptocurrencies. Moreover, the currency price is an important factor. The price volatility of Bitcoin and others attracts investors, hoping to buy low and sell high.

Consumers from countries in Africa, Asia, and South America were most likely to be an owner of cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, in 2024. This conclusion can be reached after combining 55 different surveys from the Statista's Consumer Insights over the course of that year. Nearly one out of three respondents to Statista's survey in Nigeria, for instance, mentioned they either owned or use a digital coin, rather than six out of 100 respondents in the United States. This is a significant change from a list that looks at the Bitcoin (BTC) trading volume in 44 countries: There, the United States and Russia were said to have traded the highest amounts of this particular virtual coin. Nevertheless, African and Latin American countries are noticeable entries in that list too. Daily use, or an investment tool? The survey asked whether consumers either owned or used cryptocurrencies but does not specify their exact use or purpose. Some countries, however, are more likely to use digital currencies on a day-to-day basis. Nigeria increasingly uses mobile money operations to either pay in stores or to send money to family and friends. Polish consumers could buy several types of products with a cryptocurrency in 2019. Opposed to this is the country of Vietnam: Here, the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method is forbidden. Owning some form of cryptocurrency in Vietnam as an investment is allowed, however. Which countries are more likely to invest in cryptocurrencies? Professional investors looking for a cryptocurrency-themed ETF were more often found in Europe than in the United or China, according to a survey in early 2020. Most of the largest crypto hedge fund managers with a location in Europe in 2020, were either from the United Kingdom or Switzerland - the country with the highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in Europe according to Statista's Global Consumer Survey. Whether this had changed by 2021 was not yet clear.

Bitcoin's transaction volume was at its highest in December 2023, when the network processed over 724,000 coins on the same day. Bitcoin generally has a higher transaction activity than other cryptocurrencies, except Ethereum. This cryptocurrency is often processed more than one million times per day. Note that the transaction volume here refers to transactions registered within the Bitcoin blockchain. It should not be confused with Bitcoin's 24-hour trade volume, a metric associated with crypto exchanges. The more Bitcoin transactions, the more it is used in B2C payments? A Bitcoin transaction recorded in the blockchain can be any transaction, including B2C but also P2P. While it is possible to see in the blockchain which address sent Bitcoin to whom, details on who this person is and where they are from are often missing. Bitcoin was designed to go against monetary authorities and prides itself on being anonymous. An important argument against Bitcoin replacing cash or cards in payments is that the cryptocurrency was not allowed for such a task: Bitcoin ranks among the slowest cryptocurrencies in terms of transaction speed. Are cryptocurrencies taking over payments? Cryptocurrency payments are set to grow at a CAGR of nearly 17 percent between 2022 and 2029, although the market is relatively small. The forecast is according to a market estimate made in early 2023, based on various conditions and sources available at that time. Research across 40 countries during the same time suggested that the market share of cryptocurrency in e-commerce transactions was "less than one percent" in all surveyed countries, with predictions being this would not change in the future.

Brussels was the home of five Bitcoin ATMs as of June 2020, whereas Amsterdam had more than 20 of these cryptocurrency installations. In general, Bitcoin ATMs were to be found in the bigger cities of the two cities, but they also sporadically appeared in smaller cities. No recent data exists on the market size of Bitcoin in either Belgium or the Netherlands. In the first three quarters of 2017, there were approximately 44,000 transactions in Bitcoin from the Netherlands on a domestic trading platform called BTC Direct. This lack of market data has two reasons. First, the design of the digital currency (meant to provide privacy) makes it is difficult to trace. Second, Bitcoin did not reach the news in the two countries that often after 2017. Approximately 60 percent of the households in the Netherlands who invested in cryptocurrencies started doing so in that year. Data on cryptocurrencies in Belgium and the Netherlands therefore mostly stems from 2017 and 2018, not from 2019.

What can be said about cryptocurrencies in Belgium and the Netherlands?

According to a survey held in Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in early 2018, Dutch respondents had the highest cryptocurrency ownership. This could be any cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin but also Ethereum or Ripple. However, consumers from the Benelux region held much less blockchain-powered currencies than their European counterparts. Not only that, they also were less likely to buy into the trend of buying cryptocurrencies over time. This might have to do with the steep decline in Bitcoin prices by the time of the survey. The biggest reason for Dutch consumers to invest in the digital money was not because of technology or out of curiosity, but simply to earn money.

Who owns cryptocurrencies in the Netherlands?

Bitcoin was owned in roughly equal amounts by both male (69 percent) as well as female (65 percent) respondents to a 2018 survey in the Netherlands. Ethereum and Litecoin, however, were way more popular amongst male respondents. Women were overall less likely to invest in cryptocurrencies but did show an interest in coins like Ripple and TRON.

Bitcoin's blockchain size was close to reaching 5450 gigabytes in 2024, as the database saw exponential growth by nearly one gigabyte every few days. The Bitcoin blockchain contains a continuously growing and tamper-evident list of all Bitcoin transactions and records since its initial release in January 2009. Bitcoin has a set limit of 21 million coins, the last of which will be mined around 2140, according to a forecast made in 2017. Bitcoin mining: A somewhat uncharted world Despite interest in the topic, there are few accurate figures on how big Bitcoin mining is on a country-by-country basis. Bitcoin's design philosophy is at the heart of this. Created out of protest against governments and central banks, Bitcoin's blockchain effectively hides both the country of origin and the destination country within a (mining) transaction. Research involving IP addresses placed the United States as the world's most Bitcoin mining country in 2022 - but the source admits IP addresses can easily be manipulated using VPN. Note that mining figures are different from figures on Bitcoin trading: Africa and Latin America were more interested in buying and selling BTC than some of the world's developed economies. Bitcoin developments Bitcoin's trade volume slowed in the second quarter of 2023, after hitting a noticeable growth at the beginning of the year. The coin outperformed most of the market. Some attribute this to the announcement in June 203 that BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin ETF. This iShares Bitcoin Trust was to use Coinbase Custody as its custodian. Regulators in the United States had not yet approved any applications for spot ETFs on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin ranked as one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies existing by April 2024 - although values changed noticeably. Bitcoin had the most expensive cryptocurrency for a while, but Ethereum was significantly cheaper, with a price that was roughly 30 times less than that of the most well-known digital currency. However, Bitcoin is in a unique position. Ethereum is one of several cryptocurrencies, for instance, that come from blockchains that focus on making financial applications possible. Bitcoin, or a digital equivalent of gold When one categorizes the different types of cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin stands out as it is one of the few that are essentially meant to store digital value. Some describe Bitcoin as a digital version of gold, purely designed to hold or possibly purchasing power over time. It has no other applications built around it, and is considered too slow to perform financial transactions. Stablecoins, the less volatile cryptocurrency Many coins in this ranking stand out as their price seemingly has not changed as much as others. This is because these are stablecoins - cryptocurrencies pegged to the price development of an external asset. This group of digital assets comprise an increasing share within the overall crypto market. Some see these coins as the future of retail payments, whereas others view these coins as a "safe" addition to their crypto investments.

Based on Google searches, consumers from Africa and Latin America made up eight of the top 10 countries with the most interest in Bitcoin in 2020. This according to information that was compiled from Google Trends, which compared searches with the keyword "Bitcoin" against searches for nine other cryptocurrencies - Bitcoin Cash, Cardano, Dogecoin, Ethereum, IOTA, Litecoin, Monero, XRP, and Tron. Bitcoin search interest was especially high in Kenya, whilst Nigeria and South Africa were fifth and sixth in a ranking that compares the 55 different countries against each other. Note that the figures provided here were from before the surge in both the price of Bitcoin as well as the Bitcoin market cap observed at the end of 2020 and early 2021.

Bitcoin's annualized footprint in electricity consumption reached an all-time high in early 2022, then believed to be higher than the power consumption of Finland. This is according to a source that tries to estimate the energy consumption of Bitcoin (BTC). It does by assuming that miner's costs and income are the same thing: The higher the miner's income, the more powerful machinery it can support. By 2025, Bitcoin's energy consumption fell in between the consumption of Australia or the Netherlands. Note, however, there is no central authority where cryptominers report their figures to. Exponential growth As Bitcoin has a maximum supply, the closer the cryptocurrency gets to its limit of 21 million coins, the more effort it takes to mine. Not every cryptocurrency has a maximum supply. Bitcoin, however, stands out as more than 90 percent of all its coins have already been created. This exponential growth cycle indirectly impacts the overall size of the blockchain as well, as it currently grows less fast than it did several years ago. Which countries mine Bitcoin the most? According to the latest available estimates, the United States had a higher Bitcoin mining hashrate than China. This research - using IP addresses from hashers accessing certain Bitcoin mining pools, a method the source admits can lead to issues - was last held in 2022, however. It is generally assumed that the different electricity prices worldwide may impact the decision on where to mine for Bitcoin.

Nigeria's interest in Bitcoins reached a peak during the summer of 2020, reaching the highest level since early 2018. This conclusion reveals itself after investigating Bitcoin trading volume against domestic currencies used for the transaction of the virtual currency. The African country was said to be one of the three countries with the most Bitcoin trading in the world in 2020.

It should be noted that the source believes the domestic currencies are mainly used by the domestic population: it assumes residents from Nigeria are the only ones who make transactions using Nigerian naira. Whether this assumption is right or not, cannot be verified here. Also, the source does not explain the peak found in 2018, or whether the high trading volume in 2017 was tied to a specific event.

Ce graphique représente le classement des monnaies virtuelles les plus chères dans le monde au 26 mars 2024, en dollars des États-Unis. On observe ainsi qu'à cette date, un Bitcoin valait plus de 69 600 dollars américains, étant la monnaie virtuelle la plus chère au monde.