50 Million Tokens Just Beginning?

According to Conor Grogan, director at Coinbase, there are 50 million different crypto tokens in circulation today, a figure that highlights both innovation and speculation on the market.

Grogan puts this in perspective: “That’s roughly 6,000 tokens for every listed U.S. stock or ETF. One token exists for every K–12 public school student in the United States. If someone tried to read every token name, one per second, it would take nearly 600 days nonstop.”

Grogan did not just reflect on the current numbers but also on the future. “I am seriously fearful for how many there are going to be in 5, 10, 20 years,” he remarked in response to a user who highlighted the recent token explosion via Solana Pump.fun. The Coinbase director ponders whether the current 50 million number could balloon into the billions or even trillions.

Pump.fun has been one of the biggest drivers of the explosive growth in meme coins and the resulting surge in activity on the Solana blockchain over the past year.

Pump.fun allows users to quickly create, promote and sell meme coins, a type of token commonly associated with jokes and memes, along with celebrities and high-profile individuals. According to recent reports, the platform — dedicated to highly speculative cryptoassets — intends to raise $1 billion by selling tokens, capitalizing on the current wave of bullish sentiment on the crypto markets.

Crypto adoption to surge

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson projected that Bitcoin may reach $250,000 this year or next year. Hoskinson identified many factors that may propel Bitcoin to that price. First, he mentioned that more people are using cryptocurrencies these days. In 2024, the number of cryptocurrency owners increased by 13% year on year, reaching 659 million.

Hoskinson also believes that the stablecoin bill, in particular, might encourage the “Magnificent 7” companies to adopt crypto assets. The Magnificent 7 consists of seven mega-cap technology stocks, including Apple, Microsoft and Amazon.