2017 Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study

Abstract

The first global cryptocurrency benchmarking study presents a systematic and comprehensive picture of a rapidly evolving industry, illustrating how cryptocurrencies are being used, stored, transacted and mined. The study gathered non-public data from more than 100 cryptocurrency companies and over 30 individual cryptocurrency miners in 38 countries around the world via secure web-based questionnaires, capturing an estimated 75 per cent of the cryptocurrency industry. The study breaks down the cryptocurrency industry into four key sectors – exchanges, wallets, payments and mining. Key findings and highlights from the study include our estimate that over three million unique individuals are actively using cryptocurrency today, data on regulation and compliance practices and costs at firms, and a global map of cryptocurrency mining.

Keywords: cryptocurrency, bitcoin, blockchain, money, currency, alternative currency, remittances, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero

JEL Classification: E40, E41, E42, E49, E50, E51, E58, E59, F24, F31, G18, G28, O17, O33