A surprising number of Americans are already invested in cryptocurrency.
In the research entitled Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2021, the Federal Reserve discovered that among the 11,000 persons in the United States who were polled, 12% had cryptocurrencies in their possession in the previous year.
The report found that 12% of American adults have invested in cryptocurrency. That’s nearly twice as many people who own gold or stock. According to the survey, most cryptocurrency investors are young men who earn less than $75,000 per year.
Only two percent of individuals in the United States made purchases using cryptocurrency
Surprisingly, the results also showed that 68% of Americans have never heard of Bitcoin—a number that seems low compared to other surveys on the topic.
Roughly 92% of people in the United States owned cryptocurrency in order to speculate on price. The total market valuation of crypto assets reached a high of $2.9 trillion in November 2018, having increased from $763 billion the previous year. However, this figure is expected to fall to about $1.3 trillion in 2022.
Only two percent of individuals in the United States made purchases using cryptocurrency, which is equivalent to one-sixth of those who possessed digital assets. And only one percent utilized cryptocurrency to transmit money to their loved ones or pals.
Thirteen percent of those who paid for products and services with cryptocurrency did not have a bank account, which is more than double the percentage held by the general population (six percent). A quarter of the respondents had no money set up for retirement.
Americans with lower incomes are more inclined to make purchases using cryptocurrencies
The Federal Reserve also discovered that Americans with lower incomes are more inclined to make purchases using cryptocurrencies. Those who owned it for the purpose of investment were disproportionately rich, with 46 percent having earnings in the six-figure range and another 25 percent earning between $50,000 and $100,000 annually.
The survey results ultimately suggest that the wealthiest Americans are the ones who are rapidly entering the crypto space. The group with “disproportionately high incomes,” as the Fed highlighted, and who are investing in cryptocurrencies, are part of the banked population, who enjoy, for the most part, retirement savings.
And while this might seem like good news for Bitcoin investors (or potential investors), there is reason to be wary: there have been reports of price manipulation and fraud in this market since its inception. The research was conducted ahead of the rise of the Omicron variant in 2021.
© 2024 Cryptopress. For informational purposes only, not offered as advice of any kind.
