I still remember when Bitcoin was practically the only cryptocurrency that mattered. In 2013, there were only seven listed coins, then within a few months, the number exploded. I've always been fascinated by how the number of cryptocurrencies went from fewer than 10 to over 500 by 2014. An incredible growth.

Looking back, 2015-2016 was the time when things started to get serious. Ethereum came out of nowhere and in four months multiplied its value by 1000%. By 2016, there were already 663 different cryptocurrencies in circulation. Bitcoin had tripled compared to the previous year, reaching nearly $900. Litecoin, XRP, Dogecoin—some projects took off, others disappeared from the radar.

By 2017-2018, the landscape was completely different. How many cryptocurrencies exist today? In 2018, we were already over 2,000. Blockchain was finding increasingly diverse uses, and the market kept growing. Ethereum had surpassed $7 billion in market capitalization, XRP soared to nearly $2 billion. It was clear that the crypto phenomenon was not a passing bubble.

Now, thinking about it, how many cryptocurrencies currently exist is a question few ask anymore. The total number has become almost irrelevant compared to the quality and usefulness of the projects. But it’s interesting to remember how we went from seven coins to thousands in less than a decade. Asia led adoption with over four times more users than any other continent, and in the United States, about 8% of the population was already trading crypto. A massive transformation of the global financial landscape.