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Surprise investment 1 in 4 Aussies are flocking to

Australian currency and a crowd of people walking to represent money people could make from investments.
Aussies have indicated they are looking to invest in crypto again. (Source: Getty)

It’s a highly volatile time in markets and Aussies are suffering from the rising cost of living, yet a surprising amount of people are looking to invest their cash in crypto again.

In fact, more than a quarter (26 per cent) of Australians are likely to buy crypto over the next 12 months despite the onset of the ‘crypto winter’, new research finds.

Around one million non-crypto owning Aussies are expected to enter the market in the next year, with Millennials and Gen Zers the most likely to buy digital assets, according to a YouGov survey commissioned by Swyftx.

The survey quizzed 2,609 adults over the week from July 5 to July 11.

Crypto adoption rates in the country increased over the last 12 months, with 29 per cent of Australian adults saying they own or have owned crypto in the past.

The research also found that the lack of effective regulation remains the key barrier to market entry among non-crypto users.

The findings from the second annual Swyftx Cryptocurrency Survey come amid ongoing volatility in both global equity and digital asset markets, with the ASX falling around 8 per cent over the last 12 months and some US$2 trillion being wiped off the value of global cryptocurrency markets.

Swyftx Head of Strategic Partnerships, Tommy Honan, said this is the first real sign that Australians are looking to a future beyond the crypto crash.

“Even in the midst of a bear market, there’s belief in the fundamentals of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, and this is manifesting itself in a high intention to buy digital assets among under 50s,” Honan said.

“But the crypto winter has taken a toll, with trust in digital assets in the country falling as a result of the failure of some big crypto projects.”

Honan said it’s likely the crypto scene is going through change, with the more legitimate investments the most likely to be left at the end,

“It’s interesting to see such a significant uptick in the number of Aussies using crypto to shop online because it speaks to where the future of digital assets almost certainly belongs,” Honan said.

“Over the next five to 10 years, we expect to see far fewer cryptocurrencies and far less market volatility. Digital assets and traditional finance likely will become indistinguishable from one another.”

Who is buying crypto?

Unsurprisingly, younger Aussies are more likely to buy the digital assets.

The YouGov survey found 42 per cent of millennials are likely to buy crypto assets over the next 12 months. Gen Z’ers are the next most likely generation to indicate they will buy crypto (34 per cent).

In total, 41 per cent of Australian adults say they are likely to buy stocks in the next 12 months and 26 per cent say they are likely to buy digital assets.

Is crypto still the future?

According to research from Finder, one in three Aussies believe Bitcoin will overtake fiat currency despite the crypto crash.

Millennials (44 per cent) and Gen Z (43 per cent) were again more likely to share this sentiment.

The survey found nearly half of Australians believe Bitcoin is a legitimate investment, a figure that climbs to 60 per cent among Gen Z.

However that’s not to say Australians don’t have their doubts about cryptocurrency.

More than half of respondents to the Finder survey (59 per cent) agree Bitcoin is purely speculative – that it doesn’t have ‘real’ value.

Meanwhile 71 per cent think Bitcoin is a bubble that will eventually burst – a belief more strongly held by baby boomers (83 per cent).

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