A new survey conducted by the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has added to the growing pool of evidence that the number of UK consumers investing in cryptocurrencies has increased in recent years.
The FCA research published today was conducted online by YouGov, a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm. The study is part of the regulators’ efforts in collaboration with the Bank Of England (BOE) and the UK government to understand consumers’ profiles, their interest in cryptocurrencies, and the emerging market.
Investors are knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies
A total of 2,681 respondents representing the entire 50 million adults in the UK were interviewed online by YouGov, with the majority of the participants revealing that they have substantial knowledge about the crypto space, including the risk involved.
However, 11% representing 300,000 crypto users did not understand the risk associated with cryptocurrencies, as they thought they were protected against losses, which according to the FCA, exposes them to potential financial risk.
Interestingly, more than a third of the respondents, which comprise about 35% representing 400,000 adults, revealed that online adverts played a significant role in influencing their decision to invest more in cryptocurrencies. The FCA stated that ads changed 16% of all new and existing cryptocurrency owners in the region.
Regarding their preferred trading venue, 83% of the respondents, who eventually decide to invest in cryptocurrencies, did so through non-UK based cryptocurrency exchanges, the report added.
More investors flood the crypto market
The new study further revealed that an estimated 2.6 million UK adults have, at some point, bought one or more cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Ripple (XRP), among others.
At the moment, 3.86% of adults, which makes up 1.9 million of the total 50 million UK adults, hold one or more cryptocurrencies. Of the number of UK adults, 75% have crypto assets worth £1000 ($1,229.18) and below.
Commenting about the survey, FCA’s Interim Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, Sheldon Mills said the report shows that more UK consumers are showing interest in cryptocurrencies by the day while adding:
“Cryptoassets present risks and opportunities for consumers. We hope these insights will help inform the policy debate in the UK and internationally as the use of these assets continues to grow.“
This is coming a year after the FCA conducted a face-to-face survey to determine the number of UK citizens showing interest in cryptocurrencies.
The FCA survey last year revealed that 1.5 million adults invested in cryptocurrencies. With the new study, the number of UK consumers investing in cryptocurrencies has increased by 1.1 million, bringing the total consumers to 2.6 million people.
Cryptocurrency awareness in the region has also increased significantly with the number of UK adults who have not heard about cryptocurrencies reducing by more than half, from 58% to 27%. That number, although impressive, is still short of crypto awareness in Canada, where Coinfomania recently reported that 58% of residents already see Bitcoin as an investment tool.
