How Many People Actually Use Bitcoin?

The answer may be more complex than you think

Jason Deane
The Bitcoin Blog

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Paying with Bitcoin is already possible in some stores. Photo by Clay Banks on Unsplash

While researching another Bitcoin article recently, I did a couple of lazy Google searches on this very question hoping to find a generally accepted and reasonably accurate answer. However, I was quickly disappointed.

Fortunately, it was not a key part of that article, but I made a mental note to come back and try and make sense of all the conflicting data that exists on the internet to get the best answer idea of what that number might be as at February 2020.

It turned into an addictive side project involving transaction levels, wallets, users, research data, a detailed examination of the blockchain itself, and, in the end, the conclusions were as fascinating as they were unexpected.

So, if, like me, you’ve ever wondered how far we’ve come in the eleven years since Bitcoin was created, this may satisfy your curiosity.

Even if you don’t necessarily like the answer.

What does ‘using’ actually mean?

I decided to go for the broadest definition first of all and work backwards. In other words, anyone who currently holds Bitcoin, whether actively spending it or not, would be counted initially and we’d qualify the data afterwards.

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Jason Deane
The Bitcoin Blog

I blog on things I am passionate about: Bitcoin, writing, money, life’s crazy turns and being a dad. Lover of learning, family and cheese. (jasondeane@msn.com)