Crypto Adoption Frenzy: More Than Half of Americans Familiar with Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum 🚨 This article is 6 years old...
Crypto Adoption Frenzy: More Than Half of Americans Familiar with Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum
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Updated: Aug. 10, 2018 at 6:12 pm UTC
Photo by Aratrika Rath on Unsplash
The cryptocurrency market may be experiencing a sudden bear market, but recent statistics released by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) demonstrate that consumer awareness and interest in digital assets such as Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum is at an all-time high.
A new study published by the AICPA, conducted in partnership with The Harris Poll, has revealed that more than 50 percent of all Americans are aware of cryptocurrencies, with 54 percent of respondents anticipating the crypto market to either remain stable or increase in value in the next year. The survey also revealed that cryptocurrencies are set to constitute 5 percent of the total U.S. investment pool in the next year as retail investors enter the crypto market on a large scale.
Crypto Adoption Surges Forward
The AICPA’s survey, conducted via telephone across 1,014 adults in the U.S., April 5-8, found that one in 20 respondents planned on investing in the cryptocurrency market within the next year.
While the number of new investors entering the market may be small compared to the 16 percent of respondents planning to invest in traditional markets, the level of cryptocurrency awareness demonstrates growing blockchain literacy in the general population.
The AICPA survey also sheds light on the low level of research conducted by market participants regarding investment strategy—nearly 30 percent of all respondents revealed that they do not research business fundamentals such as quarterly financial earnings, profit margins and market positioning to ensure investment opportunities fit their portfolio before investing.
Greg Anton, AICPA’s national CPA financial literacy commission chairman, highlighted investor’s lack of due diligence as a key motivator for the number of Americans (nearly 48 percent) that believe volatile markets give them an opportunity to profit from short-term buying and selling:
“Investing is not a get-rich-quick scheme and trying to time a volatile market with hopes for huge gains is a serious financial risk. Many people who enter the market looking for a quick buck find they can’t handle watching their investment lose value, which leads them to sell at a loss. For most people, seeking incremental gains over a longer time horizon is a safer, more sustainable approach.”
AICPA Survey Reflects Impulsive Crypto Investor Behavior
Anton’s statements on short-term investor trading strategies reflect comments made by CNBC Fast Money contributor and BKCM CEO Brian Kelly, who recently advised crypto traders against impulsively liquidating crypto-assets after the SEC Bitcoin ETF decision delay:
“If you’re selling today after this decision, it’s the wrong way to do crypto investing. There is more to this story than just an ETF.”
Kelly also emphasized the likelihood that the SEC will delay the ETF decision further given the risk-averse nature of the regulatory body:
“[Bitcoin] has had a tremendous run off of $5,800, and that was all really because people thought there was going to be a Bitcoin ETF. The SEC came out and postponed that decision. A little spoiler alert, on Sept. 30, SEC will likely postpone it again, because the market is not ready for it and the SEC hasn’t had the answers to their questions yet.”
