A report published by Australia-based cryptocurrency exchange Independent Reserve has shown that more than 39% of the country’s investors expect Bitcoin to go as high as $30,000-$100,000 within the next eight years.
The findings, consolidated as the Australian Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI), also show that 30% of residents who do not own any cryptocurrency also foresee a significant increase in Bitcoin’s price.
The recent activities in and around the cryptocurrency market, ranging from the Terra (LUNA) capitulation earlier in the year to the recent FTX exchange fallout, have damped lots of hope about the industry. Yet stats have shown that Australians still believe in digital assets and their immense potential.
According to the IRCI report, more than a quarter of Australian crypto investors in Australia expect Bitcoin prices to go as high as $100,000 by 2030. A further 18% of investors predicted an even higher price of up to $250,000, while just 4% of respondents believe Bitcoin will be worth more than that figure.
Meanwhile, price predictions by non-crypto investors were not too different from those of investors. Approximately 30% of non-investors also speculated a Bitcoin price as high as $100,000. Some 10% of non-investors pegged their predictions as high as $250,000, while only 2.8% of non-investors see BTC’s market price going higher than $250,000.
The IRCI report was conducted by PureProfile. It entails a cross-sectional survey amongst over 2,000 everyday Australians, reflecting their disposition on cryptocurrency, cutting across age, gender, and geographical distribution.
Australians Committed to Cryptocurrency
The IRCI report for 2022 shows a decline in the Australian Index from 54 to 45, a setback that largely shows the impact of the bear market, a call for more cryptocurrency regulation, and the majority of crypto investors in the country not making profits in the last 12 months.
Despite the fall in the Australian Index, statistics show more Aussies will commit to digital assets long term. The overall adoption of cryptocurrency has remained high in the region and is expected to keep increasing.
The total amount of cryptocurrency owners in the country has moved from 16.8% in 2019 to 25.6% in 2022, a difference of over 18%. It reached its ATH of 28.8% in 2021 before the market declined this year. Bitcoin is Australia’s best-known digital asset, with about 90.8% of investors knowing a thing or two about cryptocurrency.
Australian Investors Call for More Crypto Regulation
Senator Andrew Braggs, the Liberal Senator for New South Wales, recently passed a bill to regulate digital assets for community consultation. He also wrote a contribution to the IRCI stating that there was no reason why digital assets should remain unregulated.
The IRCI reports have shown that 36.1% of Australians that didn’t invest in cryptocurrency (a rise from 24.8% in 2021) cited that they didn’t invest due to a lack of regulations and customer protection in the industry. A recent lack of regulation and customer protection was seen in the FTX collapse. The report also shows that 32% of these investors said they wouldn’t invest in cryptocurrency if regulations were not implemented.
Over 40% of investors have also decided to hold on to their portfolio in the next 12 months, and a mild 27% plan to increase their exposure in the coming year. These figures show that Aussie investors are confident in a market recovery.
The survey also shows that there will be more cryptocurrency acceptance by businesses and people between 18 and 44 years, with over 40% acceptance amongst the age bracket. This shows that more young adults and businesses will bag cryptocurrencies by 2023. With the total number of women investing in digital assets growing by 1.4% to 21% in 2022, the adoption is set to cut across all genders in the coming years.
