New record reached despite issues the first cryptocurrency had in 2022
Bitcoin broke another all-time high amid the cryptocurrency market rally. The number of addresses holding Bitcoin has set a record of nearly 40 million addresses, IntoTheBlock reports. For comparison, networks such as Cardano only have 3.5 million addresses.
Despite mostly negative performance in 2022, the number of addresses with some amount of BTC is still growing, with 880,000 new wallets opened. The growth of the Bitcoin network has always been stable, with a strong spike only back at the end of 2017.
The importance of network growth
Network growth is one of the most important metrics for any cryptocurrency. Although Bitcoin’s use case remains limited due to the lack of Ethereum-like smart contract technology, it still serves as a benchmark for beginner traders and institutions.
Similarly to the pre-institutional adoption era, Bitcoin has been used as a bargaining chip similar to Tether and other stablecoins. Most of the trading volume was concentrated in BTC pairs in contrast to modern perpetual or regular futures that soak up most of the new funds flowing into the market.
Bitcoin Market Performance
As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin had a rocky start to 2022 and is already down around 20% since the start of the year. Traditional financial markets also had one of the worst starts in their history, with the S&P500 losing 12.5% since January 1.
At press time, Bitcoin is moving in the wide rangebound formed in February and, as U.Today previously covered, the lack of buying power and the uncertainty of most investors is currently stopping Bitcoin from breaking through the rangebound.
