According to the annual study that interviewed over 11,000 persons in the United States about their economic prosperity over the course of the previous year and was conducted between October and November 2021, another 1% of respondents said they used it to transfer money to family members or friends. The survey allowed respondents to select more than one option for an answer.
The findings reveal that the asset class was largely perceived as an investment vehicle in the United States by a majority of persons with high incomes. This theme goes counter to the way that some advocates promote cryptocurrency as a payment mechanism that helps foster financial inclusion. As per CoinmarketCap, over the time period covered by the poll, the total market value of cryptocurrencies worldwide increased by over 86%, going from $335 billion to $2.54 trillion. Given this growth, it is not surprising that investors are showing an interest in the asset class.
Only those people who classified themselves as crypto investors had earnings of at least $100,000, while 29% had earnings of less than $50,000. Almost all of them had bank accounts (99%), and even the non-retired investors had some funds for retirement (89%). On the other hand, the 2% of people who utilized the cryptos for financial dealings were much more probable to be unbanked, have a lower income, and not have a credit card. Almost 6 in 10 made just under $50,000, and 13 percent did not own a bank account — versus 6 percent of individuals who did not utilize cryptocurrencies. More over a quarter of transactional cryptocurrency users did not own a credit card, compared 17 percent of non-crypto clients.
Other polls, like as the one that was conducted by the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini and published at the beginning of April, have revealed a higher degree of crypto acceptance in the United States than what the Fed’s data indicate. After the cryptocurrency market reached its all-time high at the beginning of November, the study indicated that 20% of individuals in the United States reported owning cryptocurrencies. The survey was performed between late November and February.
Despite this, the findings of both polls, in addition to the findings of the industry’s most comprehensive geography research, which was conducted by the blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, indicate that cryptocurrencies are not often utilized for making payments in industrialized nations.
According to the report, the United States of America placed ninth in terms of the overall usage of cryptocurrencies. However, the country ranked third in terms of the total activity associated with cryptocurrencies and fourth in terms of the activity associated with non-professional, individual users of cryptocurrencies. However, in terms of the amount of peer-to-peer trading, the United States placed 109th.