NFT craze and institutional money to bring next 100 million crypto users, says Crypto.com CEO

Watch Cointelegraph’s latest interview with Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek to understand the catalysts that will push crypto to 200 million users. For more crypto and blockchain content, check out and subscribe to Cointelegraph’s YouTube Channel!

When adoption?

It took over a decade for crypto to reach 100 million users, or ~1% of the global population, according to a study by Crypto.com. But Marszalek expects the next 100 million users to arrive in a far quicker time frame.

He said:

“Going from 100 to 200 million is going to be much, much faster than going from, you know, 50 to 100 [million].”

He explained that the expansion of crypto’s network effect will result from a combination of converging trends.

All aboard the institutional money train

The arrival of notable institutions into the crypto space has signaled to many that mainstream adoption is underway. Household names such as Paypal and Tesla are beefing up their Bitcoin acquisitions and supporting Bitcoin payment rails for non-crypto native customers.

Marszalek commented:

“There is just a whole slew of financial institutions that now are putting a certain portion of their assets into Bitcoin. So that drives quite a lot of action.”

NFTeeing up adoption

NFTs have established themselves as the hottest topic of 2021 so far. The NBA, Jack Dorsey, and some of the most prestigious auction houses in the world are all cashing in on the craze. Marszalek is excited about the prospect of “top celebrities who have 100, 200 million followers, 250 million followers” getting their fan bases involved with crypto. He believes this could lead to a surge of new users:

“Today, culture is led by influencers who are just operating online. This is the perfect time for NFTs to actually go mainstream.”

Watch the full video to dive further into Marszalek’s arguments. If you enjoyed this content, check out and subscribe to Cointelegraph’s YouTube channel for more crypto interviews!