Research Finds Four In 10 Consumers Have Invested In Or Bought Crypto

Data released by digital payment company Skrill shows that nearly 40% of consumers have invested in some form of cryptocurrency or the other. The trend has taken on new legs in 2021 given the heightened awareness, as well as the fact that a number of the most famous people and companies in the world making various announcements as it relates to digital assets.

As such, a survey conducted by Paysafe between March and April this year found that 38% of participants had either invested in or bought a cryptocurrency. The Lost in Transaction survey was conducted among 8,111 consumers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Italy. Interviews were undertaken by Sapio Research via an online questionnaire that followed an email invitation. 

Of the consumers, 84% said they had heard of at least one cryptocurrency while 64% recognized Bitcoin. 20% of the participants revealed they own Bitcoin or used to. Bitcoin ownership was higher in the U.S at 24% and Bulgaria at 36%.

The Most Popular Currencies That Aren’t Bitcoin

The research showed that the most known digital currencies apart from Bitcoin are Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. 31% of the consumers were aware of Bitcoin Cash, with 9% revealing ownership while Ethereum was owned by 8% and known to 22%. Litecoin ownership was 7% – 19% of the participants were aware of its existence.

Ethereum Classic, Dash, and Stellar were also recognized by 10% of persons interviewed but ownership didn’t go past 5%. The likes of Tezos, Chainlink, Atom, EOS, OMG Kyber Network, and 0x were known among 8% of respondents.

Additionally, “Consumers’ knowledge and understanding of cryptocurrencies as a financial asset appears sharply divided, with 47% agreeing or strongly agreeing that they don’t know enough about them for use or investment, while 38% considered them too risky for investment overall. However, 28% already believe that cryptocurrencies are a good investment for the future.”

Many of the consumers noted that they have a much better understanding of crypto than they did around the same time last year. 29% claimed to know more about crypto than they did a year ago and 26% said they were more likely to invest in digital assets than they would have been 12 months prior.

The Usage Factor

As to what makes crypto useful, there was no clear opinion as 27% of respondents thought of it as the future of payments, and 26% considering it to be a good store of value. Another 27% said it was the future of banking while only 17% revealed having used crypto for something other than investment.

The survey also found that 9% of persons had used cryptocurrency to pay for something in the last month. Of that 9%, 97% of them tried it for the first time in 2020 and 59% are currently and frequently using crypto as a payment method. 44% of the persons who used crypto to make a payment within the last month indicated it was their preferred form of payment but the majority of respondents use a combination of debit cards, credit cards, and digital wallets, although 23% of the, reckon crypto payments will become the standard in future. 

“Cryptocurrency adoption has rapidly increased to heights nobody could have imagined even two years ago,” Yordanov, the Senior Vice President of Skrill and NETELLER, at Paysafe, said. “We’re seeing that crypto is no longer a niche phenomenon, and our research provides further evidence of that, but there’s a significant opportunity to grow awareness about its potential for payments and transfers. We are working hard to make it easier for people everywhere to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with Skrill and NETELLER.”