Top 50 Web3 Statistics in 2023 (Growth, Market, Users, Demographics)
Web3 is among the trendiest terms in tech development right now, and it has the statistics to earn that position.
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The Web3 blockchain market is worth $11.54 billion as of the end of 2022.
Web3 had a market cap of $27.5 billion as of the end of 2022.
Web3 is utilized in more than 46 percent of finance apps today.
Web3 has an annual 44.6 percent growth rate.
438 startups are invested in Web3.
11 countries have launched their own digital currency and an additional 114 nations are exploring creating their own central bank digital currency (CBDC).
81 percent of people who have heard of Web3 believe that it will have a positive impact on their overall happiness and well-being.
More than 18,000 developers are currently working on Web3 and open-source crypto projects.
More than 73 million active users in Web3 video game spaces.
Roughly 43 percent of consumers involved with Web3 expect that it will be regulated more heavily than Web 2.0.
In 2020, just 30 companies made around $20.5 million in deals, kicking off the start of the Web3 revolution.
Just a year later, the number of companies had tripled, and the value of the deals hit $380 million. That’s just the list of deals in one year for self-proclaimed Web3 startups.
Considering that Web3 is a design philosophy bent on decentralizing internet resources and expanding blockchain technologies and token economics, it's not surprisingly that the greater market has already achieved a market cap well into the billions.
In fact, you can take a deep dive into Web3 statistics. You’ll see asset values, geographical market statistics, job opportunities, military investment figures, and more.
Contents
Blockchain Growth
In 2020, the Web3 blockchain market was worth $1.23 billion. As of the end of 2022, the global blockchain tech market has grown to $11.54 billion, representing a 938% increase in just 2 years.
Across the world, the financial service industry is by far blockchain’s largest customer, accounting for 38 percent of the blockchain market’s revenue in 2021. Among financial services, foreign currency exchanges represent a major portion of Web3 transactions, averaging $7.5 trillion USD each day in 2022 trade volume.
Looking ahead, 90% of major banks in Europe, Canada and the United States already use blockchain and/or have plans to start in the future. This includes major names in the industry like American Express, Bank of America, and HDFC Bank.
Sources: Bankless Times, EarthWeb, Soocial, Zippia, Verloop.io, Cision
Market Capitalization
While Blockchain represents a significant portion of Web3 assets and transactions, it is not the whole story. The entirety of the Web3 market was valued at $3.2 billion in 2021. By the end of 2022, that number grew to $27.5 billion. You can compare that to the blockchain tech market which was capped at $11.54 billion at the end of the same year.
Much of this difference is found in venture capital (VC) investments. VC investments broke the $18 billion mark in just the first half of 2022. Where does that value go when it isn’t invested in blockchain assets? Mostly, it’s found in contracts and business valuations. Web3 businesses and contracts make up the majority of the $16 billion Web3 market that is not tied into blockchain.
Sources: Bankless Times, EarthWeb, Soocial, Fluper, McKinsey
Cryptocurrency Market Values
A small minority of all digital coins are associated with Web3. Web3 coins are currently valued at a combined total of $23 billion. Among those, Polkadot is the most successful, worth $7.31 billion. A few other billion+ coins in the Web3 domain include Chainlink, Filecoin, and Theta.
For comparison, Bitcoin has a market cap of $890 billion.
You might notice that this is larger than the entire market cap of Web3, and that’s because Web3 does not account for all cryptocurrencies.
Sources: Bankless Times, EarthWeb, Soocial, Titan
Market Growth
So far, Web3 has sustained substantial market growth, exceeding 300 percent in its first few years. Growth slowed considerably in 2022 and the first part of 2023, in concert with blockchain assets in general. Despite that, analysts predict that Web3 will continue to grow at an average annualized rate of 44.6 percent through 2030.
Those projections would put the Web3 market cap over $80 billion by that time.
Another way to comprehend Web3 market growth is through statistics of individual Web3 companies.
Aptos, a leading Web3 developer, reached a peak valuation of $1 billion in 2022. Some projections put Aptos growth expectations as high as 30 percent over the next 5 years.
ConsenSys is another strong example. This is a company that specializes in developing services and applications that operate explicitly on the Etherem ecosystem. So far, the ConsenSys value peak hit $7 billion. Projections expect it to grow as high as $25 billion by 2030.
Sources: TechRepublic, EarthWeb, Crunchbase, Crunchbase
Business Partnerships
Companies that have invested and/or involved themselves in Web3 are benefiting from the decision. The 438 start-ups that currently offer technologies and services associated with Web3, for instance, have received a combined total of more than $4.5 billion in investment funding since Web3 began. This is an encouraging sign for Web3 developers as it clearly shows that not only entrepreneurs but also seasoned investors and large financial institutions see the value of Web3 and all that it has to offer.
Large Companies in Web3
Some major banks were mentioned earlier. In addition to such major companies, a few other big names are currently investing heavily in Web3.
At the top of the list is Facebook. Facebook has been a world-leading developer in metaverse resources for several years. So far, the company (actually named “Meta”) has poured roughly $20 billion into metaverse projects. Those investments are split across Web2 and Web3 projects, but Mark Zuckerberg has publicly stated that the company will transition more and more into Web3 in coming years.
More direct investors in Web3 include Alphabet (the parent company that runs Google) and Netflix. Google has already invested $1.5 billion into Web3. Meanwhile, Netflix has pledged unspecified billions in Web3 development plans. Likely, the number will exceed $1 billion by 2024.
Noteworthy Startups in Web3
While some of the world’s largest corporations are involved in Web3, the main companies in this sector aren’t as well known as the companies listed above. Binance, which is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, is probably the best-known start-up involved in Web3. Others are Polkadot, Braintrust, OpenSea, Helium Systems, and Immutable.
Polkadot is Web3’s highest-valued cryptocurrency. Braintrust connects a network of more than 700,000 skilled professionals to companies in need of their services. Helium Systems work in internet development while OpenSea offers a peer-to-peer NFT marketplace.
Here’s a quick breakdown of their current valuations:
OpenSea: $846 million
Helium Systems: $343 million
Braintrust: $128.28 million
Immutable: $882 million
Sources: 101 Blockchains, Soocial, EarthWeb, Coinbase
Government Involvement
Government statistics offer yet another avenue of insight into Web3 development and values. Currently, 11 nations have a CBDC. A central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a cryptocurrency that is issued and run by a government or central bank. Eleven countries might not sound like much, but an additional 114 countries are exploring CBDC development right now. Among those, 60 nations are deep into the development phase.
Aside from digital currencies, a few countries are exploring interesting alternative (or additional) investments into the Web3 space. Dubai is setting up economic programs specifically to attract Web3 companies (alongside AI, cloud computing, and metaverse developers). Japan has a formal Web3 Study Group that operates as a DAO.
U.S. Statistics
As for the United States government, things are a little all over the place. There is no centralized, national investment plan for Web3, but despite that, there are a number of government-funded investments in the technology in the country.
A few individual states are leading the charge. California, Wyoming, Florida, Texas, and Colorado are all working on programs that will foster Web3 development and entice Web3 companies to locate within their borders.
In addition to state-level efforts, defense spending on Web3 is not small. The Army has already put $14 billion into their “Synthetic Training,” much of which ends up as Web3 investment. Other branches of the military are putting up similar investments.
NASA is also big on Web3. Though the NASA budget is smaller, the organization is spending tens of millions of dollars a year on Web3 right now. The Department of Agriculture and Veterans Affairs are also committing to Web3 development, though specific dollar amounts have not yet been disclosed.
In all, the U.S. government is investing heavily in Web3, even if there isn’t a consolidated department centralizing those investments.
Sources: Government Matters (govmatters.tv), Forbes, nftnow, Atlantic Council, Motley Fool
Public Perception
Here’s another way to gauge Web3. What do people know about it?
The majority of the population around the world has heard of cryptocurrency and blockchain (and to a lesser extent metaverse), far fewer are familiar with Web3. Only about 46 percent of U.S. consumers have heard of the term "web3" at all, and only 13 percent can say that they fully understand the term with any confidence.
Demographically, men are more likely to be familiar with Web3 than women. As for age, 20 percent of Gen Z is familiar with the term while only 18 percent of millennials can say the same. The numbers decline further with age, with Gen X having about an 11-percent recognition rate and Boomers coming in at 8 percent.
Despite the lack of familiarity, Web3 is very popular. Roughly 81 percent of people who recognize the term claim that it will positively impact their overall well-being. A full 83 percent expect that the technology will improve their lives. Only 10 percent think that the technology will have a net-negative impact.
User Statistics
Even as an emerging technology, Web3 already has a large user base. In many cases, users interact with Web3 completely unaware of the technology running the interactions.
More than 300 million people around the world now own cryptocurrencies, and while not all of them are tied to official Web3 programs, cryptocurrency is built on the same principles and technology as Web3.
Stats By Geography
While we have already explored some user demographics relating to Web3, more insights lie in geographic disparities.
North America is the world leader when it comes to the Web3 market. Roughly 34 percent of all Web3 assets are owned by North Americans. Europe comes in second place with 24 percent of the assets. Meanwhile, Asia and the Pacific hold about 18 percent of the assets. Africa and South America still have plenty of assets, accounting for 14 percent and 10 percent of global values, respectively.
Despite this current distribution, changes are expected. Experts predict that China will increase its Web3 market faster than any other region in the world. Web3 already gets more Google searches in China than in any other country. Meanwhile, Singapore, South Korea, and Hong Kong are all primed for rapid Web3 adoption as well.
Sources: Soocial, Bankless Times, Lxahub.com, EarthWeb, buybitcoinworldwide
Work Opportunities
What about jobs relating to Web3? It’s a large source of employment, and as financial statistics have shown, it’s a market that is expected to grow.
More than 18,000 developers are currently working on Web3 and open-source crypto projects. As for growth, research has found that 51 percent of GenZ members and 48 percent of millennials see themselves doing at least some work in the Metaverse in the next two years.
Jobs By Location
Despite those opportunities, job saturation varies dramatically according to geographic lines. As you might expect, some of the areas with the most Web3 employment are in the United States and in areas that are already heavily invested in tech work.
As of 2022, California had the most job opportunities, with 3,203 Web3-related jobs. New York comes in second place with 3,060 jobs. Florida is in third place with 602 Web3-related jobs available, emphasizing how dramatically employment follows geography.
More Job Statistics
Aside from how many jobs are around and where they are located, some additional job-related statistics might surprise you.
Here’s one to get started. Of the 18,000 current active Web3 developers, 60 percent started as recently as 2021. Let's emphasize that point. More than half of the current Web3 development professional community was not employed in this space as early as December of 2020.
Bringing this back around, Web3 jobs are not just full of promise; they also pay well. North American Web3 developers enjoy an average salary of $125,000 each year. The low end of the salary range is $70,000 while the maximum gets up to around $240,000.
Naturally, salary opportunities vary. South America sees the lowest pay for Web3 developers with an average income of $50,000 each year and a minimum salary of $15,000.
Sources: lxahub, Soocial, Forbes, Web3 Career
Conclusion
Web3 has much to offer and the transition to this new iteration of the web has already started. And the public has, for the most part, a positive perception of the new web even if many don’t fully understand all aspects of how it works.
At the same time, Web3 is in the very early stages. Concerns about fraud and misuse are widespread and valid to some degree. There are also calls for governments to regulate this new web to prevent financial wrongdoing.
If governments heed these calls, their involvement could easily hinder development, but it could just as easily go in the other direction and catalyze future growth.