13 Interesting Findings From Recent Crypto Surveys

Surveys have helped identify a diverse set of driving factors in the crypto industry, from the popularity of cryptocurrencies (and particular coins) in different age groups, the key problems affecting cryptocurrency industry, and the interest in crypto among banks and other industries.

They can definitely tell where the industry is at currently, and where it is ended.

Here are top ten recent findings from different surveys in the crypto industry.

43 percent to hold for the long term as crypto enters a "holding phase"

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb surveyed 2500 users of its platform last month and published the result on June 7. The results show that while 27 percent of cryptocurrency investors are aiming for short-term gains from their holdings when buying cryptocurrencies, 42.8 percent want to take the dive for a longer period aiming at long term gains.

What that means is more users are aiming for long term gains than those aiming for short term gains.

Meanwhile, 13.1% of Bithumb’s users were found to ha bought crypto for purposes of investment while 10.5% were focused on marriage and property ownership-related goals.

The study is not far from what many other surveys have found out in the recent past, or even what a number of experts have had to say. For instance, many analysts believe the markets are currently in a prolonged ‘hodling’ phase after major excitements late last year where there was prolonged buying.

Again, a recent survey by the Bithumb exchange revealed that older crypto investors are more likely to hold for longer than younger investors. Long term holders constituted 50.49.1 percent of all investors who were over 50 years of age. In comparison, one in three 20-something aged investors (approximately 30 percent) wants to hold for the long term.

35 percent of wealthy individuals around the world are into crypto investments

More than a third of high net worth individuals are planning or are already invested in cryptocurrencies according to research by the deVere Group. The group surveyed over 600 of the group’s clients from across the globe -- including individuals from the U.S., the U.K., Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany, and France.

This, according to founder and CEO of the deVere Group, Nigel Green, will boost mainstream expansion.

DeVere Crypto works on Apple OS and Android and lets users store, transfer, and exchange Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum. The company wants to add support for more crypto assets.

20 percent of financial institutions will offer crypto trading next year

Thomson Reuters, an Ontario-based financial information firm, released survey results at the end of May, showing that one-fifth of the 400+ clients ( forex trading companies using its services) will offer crypto trading services “over the next 3-12 months.” This is due to significant increase of number of requests from traders.

70 percent of respondents who said they are considering offering the options this year, mentioned that they are preparing to offer them within 3-6 months.

The company's press release said the survey results showed “generally widespread familiarity with cryptocurrencies.”

Asia Pacific Head of forex trading market development at Thomson Reuters Michael Go said the rise of crypto market indicated a “strong momentum around this new technology and tradable asset class.”

More than 50 percent of financial planners now fielding questions about cryptocurrencies; only 2 percent recommend crypto investments

The Financial Planning Association, the Journal of Financial Planning, and the FPA Research and Practice Institute have published a survey that says 53% of financial advisers have responded to clients inquiries about cryptocurrencies in the past six months.

The bad thing is that only 2 percent responded positively to the queries, classifying cryptocurrencies as a viable investment option. In other words, they recommended the investment to their clients or customers.

The survey took place in April/May 2018 and received 265 responses from financial advisers.

ETFs or exchange-traded funds were first out of 20 as the most recommended investment option for the fourth year in a row according to the survey. They were recommended by 87 percent of the financial advisers surveyed (up from 72 percent in 2010). 83 percent advised cash investments, 73 percent Mutual Funds (non-wrap), 56 percent stock, 46 percent bonds and 2 percent cryptocurrencies.

There are diverse reasons as to the low recommendation for crypto investments by the financial advisers: 29 percent see crypto as an interesting concept to keep an eye on but not invest in yet; 24 percent say it is only worth investing money you can stand to lose; while 18 percent say it is a fad that is best avoided.

However, the fact that more people are asking questions about cryptocurrencies might indicate increasing interest or publicity.

Three out of ten Germans considering investing in crypto

 A German Bank called Postbank reported last month that 29 percent of Germans want to invest in cryptocurrencies, after surveying 3,100 Germans.

The survey, which was performed from end of February to the end of March 2018, found out that 60 percent of women and 51 percent of men want to explore cryptocurrencies as a way of gaining "independence from established financial systems" as the most important factor.

However, 56 percent of men and 36 percent of women want to invest in cryptocurrencies, influenced by the high returns. Anonymity is crucial for every one out of three investors according to the survey.

Crypto is still popular among 18-34 year olds

You might remember that a different extensive survey released this year revealed almost similar findings. According to German bank Postbank survey, 46 percent of people aged 18 to 34 years want to invest in cryptocurrencies. Six percent are already invested and 14 are planning to get started over the next 12 months.

Many other surveys have supported the notion that young investors are fascinated with the idea of investing in cryptocurrencies, although it is the older majority who have actually more disposable income or money to put in the investments at the end of the day.

Cryptocurrency exchanges suffering more problems than you may think

Encrybit surveyed 1108 people in total in between April 23-30, using Google Forms, and found a number of issues affecting cryptocurrency exchanges. It is not surprising that 40 percent of respondents said exchanges suffer immense security problems given the many security breaches now reported.

For instance, one of the main reason being given for slump of Bitcoin price this week -- by more than 10 percent to a low of $6,647.33 on Sunday 10 June since April 9 -- (in addition to reports that U.S. regulators are investing possibility of price manipulations at Coinbase, Bitstamp, itBit and Kraken and has asked them to share with them trading data related to futures contracts).

Coinrail, which is just one example of the hacks in the recent past, caused 10% slump in Bitcoin prices on Sunday to two-month lows. For instance, Bitcoin lost $500 (£372) in an hour on Sunday, after the hack that saw crooks make away with 30% of the coins traded on the exchange -- 40bn won (£27.8m) worth of virtual coins. However, the exchange reports on its website that it has accounted for 70% of its cryptocurrency reserves.

Apart from Coinrail, Bithumb was also hacked last year, leading to compromise of data belonging to almost 32,000 users. For instance, hackers were able to login and transfer coins. Youbit, another popular cryptocurrency exchange, lost 4,000 Bitcoins — some 17% of its assets after a December hack. Coincheck also lost $500 million worth of tokens in a hack earlier this year.

Other than security on crypto exchange platforms, we have high trading fees as a problem most cited in the Encrybit survey -- or an issue mentioned by 37 percent of respondents  -- against 18 percent who highlighted high withdrawal fees. Liquidity was a concern for 36 percent of respondents in relation to crypto exchanges, while 33 percent said exchanges reported unethically long response time. For instance, some users said it took up to six weeks getting verified on exchanges such as Kraken and Coinbase, which could be due to an influx of new users in a given period or time leading to network challenges. 22 percent highlighted the problem of lack of trading pairs.

The survey found out that Binance was most popular (27 percent), followed by Huobi (19%), Okex (14%), and Bitfinex (11%).

Most South Korea crypto users may welcome favorable regulation after all

Not much surveys have been done in the area of regulation perhaps. However, the Bithumb survey mentioned earlier in this article, showed that most crypto investors in South Korea are “broadly welcoming” for government regulation on taxes and other areas of crypto industry.

According to the study, 39.5% of cryptocurrency holders would still keep their investment even when paying capital gains tax is needful for them. The percentage thus increased by 11% compared to last year's reported percentage. However, 13.1% said they would stop investing in the event of government regulations.

68 percent of crypto exchanges and wallets do not perform client identity checks

P.A.ID Strategies did a survey that showed that most cryptocurrency exchanges do not require more than an email address and a telephone number from clients to perform Know Your Customer (KYC) checks.

This shows a low readiness even as The European Parliament's fifth anti money laundering directive (AMLD5) is set to come to effect next year. It will require crypto exchanges and wallets to adopt same protocols as normal banking services and will crackdown on lack of identity checks.

The study investigated identification procedures of 14 exchanges including Coinbase, Gemeni and Poloniex, and 11 wallets, including Luno, Bonpay and Mercatox, out of the 25 services included in the study.

Principal analyst at P.A.ID said meeting the regulatory demands ahead of AMLD5 might "go a long way to changing this sector's reputation as being something of a 'wild west',”

He said that “cryptocurrency wallets and exchanges want to enjoy the same trust as the wider traditional financial services, but for this to happen they need to rise above the sometimes-dubious reputation of cryptocurrencies' past and be seen as 'model citizens' of the economy.”

Kalle Marsal, COO of Mitek said,

“Wallets and exchanges want to change perceptions of lawlessness and it's a relatively straightforward fix. Identity verification processes can be simple for the customer and no barrier to signing up.”

He said exchanges and wallets can be both competitive and compliant with regulatory demands by incorporating systems that are "just as future-looking as cryptocurrency itself."

5 percent of Gulf-based investors have spent over $500,000 on cryptocurrency

Research commissioned by British property developer Select Property Group and conducted by YouGov found that real estate is the most popular investment across the region. 75 percent of investors in GCC have invested in property in their home country according to this survey.

However, despite cryptocurrencies being a young industry, it is increasing its share in the mix of investment products made by Gulf-based investors.

The survey revealed that 32 percent look to make a new investment at least every quarter. It asked respondents to consider their previous and potential future investments in bonds, stocks and real estate, as well as mutual funds, bank products, gold and precious metals, cryptocurrency and fine art.

Further, 60 percent of respondents are considering to invest in real estate abroad according to the survey.

Only seven percent of crypto investors are actual experts in the field

While eleven percent of investors in cryptocurrencies have some kind of intermediate experience in crypto, most of them or 8 percent are just newcomers.

A survey by eToro, a social trading and investing network, found out that most investors work in a job that is related to computers and IT in some way although there are a few people who are salesmen, students, retired citizens, workers in real estate or arts, and people from the financial services industry. Other groups include tourism, architecture, healthcare, and education.

According to the survey, Ripple was most profitable crypto to trade followed by Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and then Dash (DASH).

eToro study carried out the survey between March 2017 to February 2018 revealed that Ripple was the most profitable to trade in the last year running until March. Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) were closely behind.

Ripple topped the profitability table with a 2% margin and a total 8% of average profitability. It grew by 23100%, followed by Ethereum at 7353%, Litecoin managed 4223% growth.

Surprisingly, the survey period included the Bitcoin boom period last year.

8.5% of investors are females; most ladies are for Ripple

Crypto markets are dominated by males at more than 91 percent. For the ladies, Ripple (XRP) is most preferred, to the tune of 2 percent. They have a low preference for NEO at below 1 percent. Many males (1 percent), prefer Ethereum Classic.

71 percent of U.K. citizens will not use crypto and think Bitcoin will collapse or decrease in value

A recent survey of 1050 people across the UK revealed that Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are becoming more popular. 92 percent were aware of Bitcoin.

However, Matthew Newton, an analyst from eToro, said this is not surprising given that crypto is still at its budding stages of development and is fairly misunderstood.

Despite the skepticism, 26 per cent of the participants said that they would use Amazon crypto to conduct transactions if Amazon released a cryptocurrency. This was followed by 19 per cent for Google, 17 per cent for Apple and 14 per cent for Facebook.