[DigitalToday reporter Kim Ye-seul (김예슬)] Binance Research forecast that the number of cryptocurrency users worldwide could reach 3 billion by 2030.

CoinPost, a blockchain media outlet, said on May 15 that global crypto users have exceeded 700 million, but growth has not been as steep as expected.

Binance Research said the slope of the growth curve has barely changed despite positive developments such as exchange-traded fund (ETF) approvals, inflows of institutional investors and efforts to refine laws related to stablecoins. That means improved market access alone has not led to the next stage of mass adoption.

Binance Research cited four barriers embedded in product structure as causes of slowing growth. It said the key issues are complex onboarding, idle holdings that fail to generate returns, information silos that make it hard to know what to buy, and a high cognitive burden from moving across multiple chains. It said these factors are the biggest obstacles to attracting the next 1 billion users.

As a solution, it proposed multi-layer integration of services. It argued that a multiplier effect could emerge when payments, interest income, credit, community, messaging and AI-based analysis and execution functions are vertically integrated within a single service rather than offered separately. Binance Research said in particular that combining AI and social features would be central to future expansion.

Binance Research said that if these structural barriers are removed, 45 percent of global internet users could have no reason not to use cryptocurrency. It presented figures suggesting that the key to market expansion lies not only in price or regulatory issues but also in simplifying and integrating the actual user experience.

Binance Research also pointed to rapid growth in the tokenisation market for real-world assets (RWA). In its monthly market analysis, it said the RWA tokenisation market grew 260 percent in the first half of 2025, pushing market capitalisation above $23 billion.