Approximately 200 million crypto and digital asset aficionados exist worldwide at the moment. However, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes that figure will increase significantly over the next decade.

Despite the digital currency market’s somewhat dire state since the start of 2022, Armstrong remains optimistic about its future development. He predicted during a recent conference that within 10 years, 1 billion people will have been involved in the digital asset ecosystem.

Between 2018 and 2020, the worldwide cryptocurrency user population rose over 190 percent, only to accelerate further in 2021.

This is based on calculations from a variety of sources, including trading platforms and on-chain wallets.

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Number Of Crypto Users Growing

Armstrong stated on Monday, the first day of the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles:

“My guess is that in 10 to 20 years, we will witness a significant portion of GDP happening in the bitcoin economy.”

His remarks come during a period of market turmoil in the virtual currency space. Bitcoin’s value has been declining since November, when it reached an all-time high of about $69,000. The world’s most valuable cryptocurrency is down almost 18% year to date.

Armstrong’s statement makes sense in light of the increase in new digital currency users over the last year. The number of persons active in the market more than doubled in the first six months of 2021, reaching more than 220 million.

BTC total market cap at $730.12 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Leaving Jobs For Bitcoin Companies

Armstrong was joined by Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, a prominent investor, who stated:

“In the case of DeFi and next-generation internet, we are seeing a significant loss of talent to digital currency.”

In the previous year, both Wall Street and numerous government organizations have lost personnel to bitcoin firms. “They [Wall Street] must take it seriously or risk being hollowed out,” Wood warned.

As of 2021, global bitcoin ownership is anticipated to be at an average of roughly 4%, with more than 300 million users. Additionally, over 18,000 establishments already accept bitcoin payments, according to a study conducted by cryptocurrency ownership data aggregator, Triple A.

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Armstrong’s Prediction Is Lower

Meanwhile, in contrast to the current estimate from Crypto.com, Armstrong’s prediction is actually far lower.

According to its recent estimate, based on last year’s growth pace, the total number of cryptocurrency users could reach 1 billion by December 2022.

Crypto.com said the number of global owners nearly tripled in 2021 — from 106 million in January to 295 million in December.

“If we extend the same rate of growth into 2022, we will surpass 1 billion users by the end of 2022,” it stated.