The popularity and appeal of cryptocurrency has been confirmed with nearly half of the Australian public expressing an interest in purchasing these assets this year, according to a survey released by online financial broking firm Savvy.
The survey involving 1000 people, conducted to understand Australians’ views on cryptocurrency, found 17.3 per cent of respondents already own some form of cryptocurrency, while another 36 per cent of those surveyed intended to buy it in the future. A further 71 per cent of participants either understand or showed interest in learning more about the asset class.
The Australian 2021 Cryptocurrency Survey also found motivation for buying cryptocurrency was varied, with 28 per cent of individuals admitting they would invest in it to diversify their investment portfolio, 38 per cent regarding it as a long-term investment, 47 per cent viewing it as a way to rapidly make money and 22 per cent doing so “for fun”.
“So getting in on cryptocurrency is becoming less of a novelty and more of a sound investment strategy,” Savvy managing director Bill Tsouvalas said.
Of those surveyed, almost 18 per cent have invested up to $10,000 in cryptocurrency and Savvy noted if this was generalised across the Australian adult population, it would indicate more than 500,000 have invested between $5000 and $10,000.
However, participants expressed concern over the perceived lack of regulation of cryptocurrency, with 79.8 per cent saying it should be more heavily regulated.
With regard to the favoured types of cryptocurrency, 44 per cent of those surveyed said they were thinking about buying Bitcoin, with another 21 per cent gravitating toward Ethereum and a further 18 per cent considering holding DogeCoin.
Despite the positive sentiment reflected in the research results, only 9.7 per cent of respondents thought cryptocurrency would end up taking the place of traditional fiat currencies.
Tsouvalas acknowledged the findings showed it is an exciting time for the finance and banking industries.
“Cryptocurrency may very well be the currency of the future. It’s time for the wider finance sector to embrace it rather than treat it as a fad or they’ll be left behind,” he said.
