Study – One in four people who live in London have bought bitcoin. What does the buyer’s profile look like?

Given the financial turmoil of 2020, it’s clear to see that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies like Ripple and Ethereum are some of the winners so far, with more people turning to them than ever before. 

In a survey conducted in partnership with Opinium, as part of AltFi’s Digital Wealth and Banking Study, it was discovered that just ten per cent of people surveyed bought crypto assets, including Bitcoin.

Following the crypto boom in 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said that more than one million consumers bought crypto assets for the first time this year, bringing the UK total up to 2.6 million people who’ve bought cryptocurrencies, with 1.9 million still holding crypto assets. 

The most Bitcoin-mad region is, slightly unsurprisingly, London, with one in four people (24 per cent) living in the Nation’s capital having purchased cryptocurrency, according to altfi.com.

Following not-so-closely behind is the South East with 13 per cent of those surveyed having bought crypto, and coming in just after is the North East where 12 per cent of those asked had bought Bitcoin.

The least Bitcoin-friendly city in the country is Plymouth, according to the research conducted by Opinium, with just one resident of the city having purchased crypto assets. 

Similarly, younger people are more likely to buy Bitcoin with 19 per cent of 18-34-year-olds having purchased the crypto asset and just one per cent of the over 55s having invested in crypto.

When broken down by gender, 13 per cent of men and eight per cent of women surveyed have bought a crypto asset at some point.

Unsurprisingly, it seems that buying crypto and being tech-savvy come hand in hand. 

Over one third (35 per cent) of people surveyed who use either Google Pay or Apple Pay most or all of the time have bought Bitcoin at one point or another, with 28 per cent of those who use it at least occasionally also buying crypto.

On the flip side of this, the largest proportion of people who bought bitcoin and also used cash came from the group that said they used cash most or all of the time, 18 per cent of people still using physical money had bought cryptocurrency too.

The survey conducted by Opinium also revealed 29 per cent of those who have come off better following the pandemic have bought bitcoin and just eight per cent of those whose financial situation worsened had bought the cryptocurrency.

Of the people surveyed who held a Lifetime ISA, nearly half (46 per cent) had purchased bitcoin, while nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of people who had other active investments had bought crypto assets. 

Source: altfi.com

AP Photo/Mark Lennihan