Raoul Pal is predicting that crypto users could reach 4 billion by 2030 and expects the asset’s market cap to top $100 trillion soon.
Former hedge fund manager and Real Vision CEO Raoul Pal has made one of the biggest predictions yet about the future of crypto. He believes that the total number of crypto users could reach 4 billion in the next four years.
Pal compared current adoption rates with the early internet boom and argued that crypto adoption is advancing at a much faster pace.
The Acceleration of Crypto Adoption
Pal pointed out that crypto adoption has grown at an average of 137% per year for the past nine years. By the end of last year, even, the number of users stood at 659 million.
Crypto is still being adopted at twice the speed on the internet from 5m IP addresses vs 5m wallets (very like for like). 1/ pic.twitter.com/5v2rmdab8d
— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) August 31, 2025
For context, the internet had only 187 million users by the year 2000. This number grew at an annual rate of 76%. The comparison indicates that crypto is spreading faster than one of the most transformative technologies in modern history.
Wallet addresses are one of the main measures of adoption. Pal acknowledged that a single person can create multiple wallets. However, he also argued that this is not different from people owning several IP addresses in the early days of the Internet.
A Forecast of 1 Billion Users Next Year
Pal believes that the user base could expand to 1 billion as soon as next year. By 2030, he expects that 4 billion people around the world will be active in crypto.
That would represent roughly one in every two people on the planet.
He also pointed out that adoption alone cannot explain price movements. According to Pal, “Debasement explains 90% of price action, while adoption explains outperformance versus debasement.”
In his view, macroeconomic pressures like inflation and currency weakening will continue to push individuals and institutions toward digital assets.
Market Capitalisation Could Top $100 Trillion.
More than user adoption, Pal made another prediction. He says that crypto’s market cap could extend by more than $100 trillion within the next decade.
He suggested that this milestone could happen as early as 2032.
And that will take it from $4trn in market cap today to $100trn by 2032/2034 pic.twitter.com/36Xf9Nhbyq
— Raoul Pal (@RaoulGMI) August 31, 2025
If his forecast proves to be correct, crypto would drift from a niche financial sector to one of the largest asset classes in the world.
Meanwhile, not everyone agrees with Pal’s optimism.
Some critics argue that wallet numbers are not an accurate measure of real adoption. They point out that one user can create multiple wallets for security or organisational reasons.
Others note that project founders often create thousands of wallets to simulate active communities.
A user responding to Pal on X said that they personally create a new wallet every six months, which inflates adoption numbers without showing real growth.
Triple-A, a digital currency payments company, estimated that 560 million people used crypto by late 2024. Meanwhile, Andreessen Horowitz reported between 30 million and 60 million active monthly users.
The sheer difference between these figures shows the difficulty in measuring real adoption levels.
The Road Ahead
Despite the debates, Pal is confident. He argues that adoption will continue to grow and will be fueled by both innovation and economic necessity. While some industry voices are urging caution, the trend points toward further participation in the next few years.
If his predictions are correct, by 2030, crypto will no longer be a niche sector. It will become a mainstream part of global finance, and the possibility of 4 billion users and a $100 trillion market shows just how far the industry could grow.
