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The 2017 survey took place in an interesting time, as Bitcoin prices were increasing and reached an all-time high on December 17, 2017. During this period, the level of awareness of Bitcoin increased from 64 per cent in the 2016 BTCOS to 85 per cent in the 2017 BTCOS, while ownership rose from 2.9 to 5.0 per cent, respectively.
Rapid Growth of Cryptocurrencies
Since 2016, the Bank of Canada has been monitoring the cryptocurrency sector and the usage of bitcoin with a survey called the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS). Primarily, the Bank of Canada has been interested in the adoption of BTC and whether the dominant cryptocurrency can gain sufficient usage to hugely impact the global financial system.
Over the past year, the awareness of bitcoin amongst the citizens and residents of Canada has increased from 64 to 85 percent, while ownership increased to 2.9 to 5 percent. In 2016, the Bank of Canada reported that the majority of cryptocurrency investors held BTC for transactional purposes and to better understand the technology behind BTC.
However, in 2017, the Bank of Canada discovered that most investors in the country held BTC as a long-term investment, rather than with genuine interest towards BTC as a technology and to utilize the cryptocurrency to process transactions.
The abrupt trend in the adoption and usage of bitcoin led the bubble of retail investors to form, which ultimately erupted as the price of BTC achieved an all-time high at $20,000. Within six months, from January to June of 2018, the price of BTC fell by nearly 70 percent, from $20,000 to $6,000.
The cryptocurrency market has always experienced a pattern of bubble-crash-build-rally, as Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan previously explained. Major digital assets like bitcoin increase by a few hundred percent during a strong rally and crash by 70 to 80 percent every few years time to stabilize the market and demand.
During a correction, companies, blockchain projects, and developers move to build infrastructure to enable the next rally and influx of new capital into the cryptocurrency sector.
14% of 18-to-24 Age Group Holds Bitcoin
Similar to most regions, the 18-to-24 age group has the highest number of bitcoin investors in contrast to any other age group in Canada. More than 14 percent of individuals aged 18 to 24 has held BTC since 2017.
The 18-to-24 age group, already one of the main users of Bitcoin in 2016, grew the most in ownership, from 6 to 14 percent in 2017. Most other age groups saw increased ownership as well, but the differences were usually not significant. The exception was the 45-to-54 age group, where ownership grew almost four times over from 0.9 to 3.5 percent,
As the awareness and ownership of bitcoin continues to grow in Canada, especially amongst young users, major digital assets will be able to establish themselves as an emerging asset class.