Author: Lim Yu Qian, CoinGecko; Translated by: Baishui, Jinse Finance
How many cryptocurrencies will there be by 2024?
As of 2024, the number of cryptocurrencies has exceeded 2.52 million. This is 5.7 times more than the 440,000 cryptocurrencies at the end of 2021.
In September 2022, the number of cryptocurrencies exceeded one million for the first time, reaching 1.15 million by the end of the year, a year-on-year increase of 159.2%. By the end of 2023, the number of cryptocurrencies increased by 72.3% year-on-year to 1.98 million.
While this may reflect a trend toward more tokenization, it’s worth noting that the total count includes relatively short-lived meme coins and dead coins.
How many new tokens have been created so far?
As of early April, more than 540,000 new crypto tokens have been created in 2024, equivalent to an average of 5,300 new tokens issued per day so far this year. Given that this is already more than half of the 830,000 new tokens launched last year, the number of new tokens on-chain in 2024 is expected to exceed that of 2023.
In contrast, the number of new tokens issued in 2022 was relatively low at 710,000. Notably, the number of tokens issued appears to reflect weak cryptocurrency market conditions in 2022, with the number of new tokens decreasing on a quarterly basis. Token creation activity continued to be suppressed in the first quarter of 2023 before returning to levels seen before the Terra/Luna debacle.
It remains to be seen whether the absolute number of new tokens launched will continue to grow gradually or exponentially year-over-year, especially as the crypto industry seeks to bring more real-world assets on-chain.
New tokens surge during Memecoin season
The May 2023 Memecoin season resulted in a surge in the number of newly issued tokens, reaching a then-monthly all-time high of 104,118. The Memecoin season returned again in late February of this year, with the number of new tokens issued surging to a new high of 195,735 in March 2024. This highlights the frenzy of memecoin activity as opportunistic actors launch derivatives of already popular memecoins or themes.
As issuing tokens becomes easier with the help of platforms like Pump.fun, and on-chain transactions become cheaper, future Memecoin seasons could lead to even bigger spikes in new tokens.
That said, January and February 2024 also saw a significant amount of new token issuance each month, at 134,647 and 195,735 respectively. This may indicate that despite the wider investment scope of memecoins, on-chain speculation is still increasing.
Statistics of the number of cryptocurrencies per year
Total number of crypto tokens in existence at the end of each year (except 2024, which ends on April 11):
*Please note that data for 2024 is incomplete as the year has not yet ended.
Number of new crypto tokens launched per month from January 1, 2023 to April 11, 2024:
*Please note that data for April 2024 is incomplete as the month has not yet ended.
