On December 26th, the CEO of a leading exchange, Richard Teng, shared a set of data that effectively illustrates the point:

Global crypto users grew from zero to 170 million in 6.5 years. From 170 million to 300 million? It took just over a year.

At first glance, this looks like a story of "accelerating growth," but the truly interesting part is—if you plot this data as a growth curve, you'll notice that the slopes of the two segments are completely different. This kind of change might be a key turning point in the entire crypto industry.

**Why did the curve become steeper?**

In the first 6.5 years, the curve was relatively gentle. Technology was still in its early stages, and promotion mainly relied on word-of-mouth within the community, resulting in slow but steady growth.

In the past year or so? The curve suddenly became much steeper, with growth speed increasing by an order of magnitude.

If you've studied the development history of the internet or mobile payments, this curve will feel quite familiar—it starts to resemble the curve just before the widespread adoption of smartphones or the explosive growth of mobile internet.

This change is reflected in three aspects:

First, the number of new users per unit time increased significantly. Second, growth is no longer driven by a single market or narrative but is flourishing across multiple points. Third, crypto assets are beginning to reach different demographic groups, no longer confined to niche circles.

**From 6.5 years to 1 year, what key change occurred?**

It's not just about the speed; behind it lies a qualitative shift in the public's understanding and acceptance of crypto assets.