Investors Still Prefer Stocks To Bitcoin, But BTC Wins Over Gold – Survey

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Despite outperforming traditional assets, bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies are still less popular than usual investment options in the US and Japan, a recent survey showed. However, the good news for the Cryptoverse is that cryptoassets are now more popular than gold in the US.

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In the US, cryptocurrencies were ranked the fourth most attractive investment in 2021, according to a survey released by Japanese crypto exchange bitFlyer that also has its subsidiary in the US. 30% of the respondents picked this nascent asset class among other options.

During the survey in the first half of January, when BTC surpassed USD 40,000 and ethereum (ETH) doubled in two weeks, stocks were indicated by 54% out of 1,000 American respondents as the most attractive investment asset. Also, according to the respondents, 401k, certificate of deposits and insurance are the second most attractive form of investing this year, with 35% of answers, followed by real estate, at 31%. Mutual funds were a less popular answer than cryptocurrencies, with 29%, followed by bonds, at 22%.

Investments in commodities such as gold and silver, and foreign exchange, were significantly less popular, with 16% and 11% of answers, respectively, according to the exchange. Respondents were asked to select all applicable options.

“In Japan, crypto was the 5th most popular asset, as people favored other investment vehicles such as Mutual Funds and FX,” bitFlyer said. In this market, they surveyed 2,000 people.

Meanwhile, comparing the US and Japan, American respondents demonstrate a more positive perception of cryptocurrencies. This is in sharp contrast with how crypto is viewed in Japan.

“Roughly 20% of respondents in the US are currently using or have used cryptocurrencies in the past,” according to a paper summarizing the results of the survey. “76% of people in the US that have heard about crypto have a positive perception about cryptocurrencies as an investment. In Japan, 78% of the respondents have a negative perception, showing a pretty strong contrast between the two regions.”

It comes as no surprise that, as American investors put significantly more trust into cryptocurrencies than their Japanese counterparts, the US population shows a much higher adoption of crypto than Japan’s inhabitants.

“Cryptocurrency adoption is higher in the US than it is in Japan. In the US, 22% of respondents have invested in crypto at some point – over four times higher than Japan,” the paper said.

The Japanese exchange added that this research shows that the current market sentiment among US investors is very bullish when compared to the one reported in Japan. This confirms an argument that the latest spike in the price of bitcoin was predominantly driven by American investors, according to bitFlyer.

Exploring the potential reasons behind the general mistrust in cryptocurrencies among Japanese respondents, the survey points to their high price volatility.

“Additionally, after seeing many incidents such as hacks and reports from mass media, many are concerned about the crypto’s security risks and usage today. In Japan, where the vast majority of people have negative perceptions about crypto, these security concerns were paramount and deep-rooted into people’s perceptions,” according to the paper.

Despite these challenges, bitFlyer concluded that, with a big learning curve ahead of Japanese investors, as “people learn more about cryptocurrencies, we can expect this to change in the future.”
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