Crypto adoption keeps climbing even as prices lack a clear bullish trend, according to the latest holder data from on-chain analytics firm Santiment. The snapshot — based on non-empty wallet counts (addresses holding any balance) — highlights broad user growth, with Ethereum far out in front, Bitcoin approaching a major milestone, and XRP showing steady gains.
Bitcoin: closing in on 60 million wallets
Santiment reports about 59.08 million non-empty Bitcoin wallets, pushing BTC toward the 60 million mark. That expanding ownership base has taken shape despite months of weak price action following the 2025 peak. The timing is notable: institutional interest appears to be returning, with SoSoValue data showing Spot Bitcoin ETF flows turned positive in March and April after four straight months of net outflows from late November 2025 through February 2026 that totaled roughly $4 billion.
XRP: steady user growth without a price rally
XRP now registers 7.8 million non-empty wallets. While small compared with Bitcoin’s footprint, the figure reflects unusually consistent adoption over the past 18 months since XRP resumed trading in the U.S. — growth that has not been matched by a commensurate price surge.
Ethereum dominance and wider market context
Ethereum is dominating holder counts, nearing 190 million non-empty wallets for the first time — Santiment lists it at about 189.5 million, roughly 3.2x Bitcoin’s holder count. Other token tallies from Santiment place XRP below Dogecoin’s 8.25 million and Tether on Ethereum at 13.61 million, but ahead of USDC (6.76 million), Cardano (4.63 million), and Chainlink (870,720).
Macro picture: adoption rising globally
Taken together, these on-chain figures underline how much crypto ownership has expanded. Separate research estimates about 559 million people owned cryptocurrency in 2026, equivalent to roughly a 9.9% global adoption rate. Analysts expect further growth as clearer regulatory frameworks emerge in the U.S. and other major jurisdictions.
A quick caveat: non-empty wallet counts are a useful proxy for adoption but don’t map one-to-one to unique individual owners (addresses, exchanges and custodians can skew totals). Still, the trend in Santiment’s data points to a market steadily broadening its user base even when prices aren’t decisively bullish.
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