New Digital Currencies 2022 playbook also shows surge in crypto app usage outpaces stock trading apps

Mobile marketing analytics platform Adjust and app intelligence provider Apptopia today released its Fintech Deep Dive: Digital Currencies 2022 Playbook, a look at the key drivers of cryptocurrency app adoption in 2021. The report reveals that global crypto app growth skyrocketed 902% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2021, with standout markets by growth rates being the U.S. (645%), APAC (475%), EMEA (284%) and LATAM (182%).

“With such exponential growth and an exceptionally engaged user base offering high lifetime value, crypto mobile apps have become a key gateway for access to the crypto economy,” said Simon “Bobby” Dussart, CEO of Adjust. “As competition for users heats up, crypto and fintech apps will need to maximize their user acquisition efforts, optimize their ad spend, and accurately measure every stage of the user journey.”

Adjust and Apptopia’s Digital Currencies playbook outlines how crypto exchange apps have performed, as well as trends in user engagement of crypto apps compared to stock trading apps. It also provides actionable insights on how crypto apps can attract and retain high lifetime value users.

Key findings include:

●      Crypto apps saw massive user growth globally in 2021 as app installs surged past  400% YoY. The most notable rise in installs took place in Q4 2021 — a 106% YoY increase following a 49% drop in downloads from Q2 to Q3.

●      Crypto apps beat stock trading apps on user engagement. Crypto apps outperformed stock trading apps on user engagement metrics such as session lengths, sessions per user per day, retention rates, and stickiness, indicating an engaged and high-retention user base for crypto apps.

●      Usage metrics correlate with crypto market performance. New market highs correlate with increased user installs and sessions. Sessions rose 63.4% from 2019 to 2020 (mirroring growth in installs), before seeing 567.4% growth in sessions in 2021.  

"Our data shows a massive increase in demand for crypto wallets and exchanges over the past year,” added Adam Blacker, VP, Insights at Apptopia. “We expect to continue to see crypto apps rise in parallel with digital currency.”

Top Crypto Apps in 2021

According to data by Apptopia, the most downloaded crypto app in 2021 was Binance, increasing its ranking from the third most downloaded app in 2020. Approximately 20% of Binance's downloads in 2021 came from Turkey and about 9% came from the U.S. Following closely behind as the second most downloaded app was Crypto.com. Coinbase, which was formerly the most downloaded crypto app of 2020, came in third for 2021. The fourth and fifth most downloaded were Trust and MetaMask, respectively. 

For additional insights, the full Digital Currencies playbook is available for download here.