The results of a Wells Fargo/Gallup poll published July 27 finds that only two percent of U.S. investors own Bitcoin, but 26 percent are intrigued by it.
The online survey was conducted May 7-14, 2018 amongst U.S. investors with more than $10,000 in stocks, bonds or mutual funds. The results show that the overwhelming majority of investors who have already heard of Bitcoin will not be investing in the leading cryptocurrency any time soon, with 72 percent saying they “have no interest in ever buying Bitcoin.”
According to the data from the poll, even though 96 percent of investors had heard of Bitcoin, “only about three in 10 investors (29%) say they know something about digital currencies,” with 67 percent saying they have heard of them but don’t know much about them.
Even though the initial intention behind Bitcoin involves its use as a means of payment, or “electronic cash”, it’s high volatility has made it “more popular as a high-risk/high-reward investment than as an online currency — although acceptance of Bitcoin for electronic payments is growing.” The results of the survey show that 75 percent of respondents view an investment in Bitcoin to be “very risky,” with 23 percent saying it was “somewhat risky.”
The statistics on gender and age show that young men are the most likely demographic to “say they know something about bitcoin or other digital currencies.” The report also states that “[r]elated to the age differences, investors with less than $100,000 in investments (who tend to be younger) are more likely to be familiar with the innovation than those with higher asset levels.”
A study on Americans and cryptocurrencies commissioned by Finder.com in February showed that 8 percent, or around 26 mln, of Americans have already purchased cryptocurrency.
A recent report on the top ten crypto projects that raised a minimum of $1 million in 2017 revealed that on average each showed a return on investment of over 136,000 percent.