Nearly one fifth of British adults now own cryptocurrency, according to Gemini
(Picture: Unsplash)Nearly one in five Brits now own some sort of cryptocurrency, according to new research, after a “transformational” year for the market.
A survey of 2,300 people in the UK conducted by trading platform Gemini found 18% said they had an investment in cryptocurrency. Nearly half invested for the first time last year.
The findings suggests a huge jump in crypto ownership over the last 12 months. Research from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) last year estimated that just 3.9% to 4.4% of Brits owned the asset.
Gemini found 45% of Brits who owned crypto said invested for the first time last year. It coincided with a rally for the market, with bitcoin peaking at an all-time high above $68,000 in November.
Gemini’s UK boss Blair Halliday said: “2021 was transformational for UK cryptocurrency ownership. Confidence in and awareness of crypto has increased dramatically.”
The finding is likely to raise alarm at the FCA, which has repeatedly expressed concerns that investors putting money into cryptocurrency do not properly understand the risks.
Halliday said Gemini, a cryptocurrency trading venue, provided “support [for] would-be investors with high quality information.”
“We believe education is the key to enabling wider audiences to safely access and capitalise on the immense opportunities that crypto represents,” he said.
Gemini was founded by the tech investors and former Olympic rowers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who were made famous by the film ‘The Social Network’ about the origins of Facebook and more recently became the first bitcoin billionaires.
The company is a principal sponsor of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race that took place this weekend.
Gemini surveyed 30,000 adults across 20 countries worldwide and found 41% of crypto owners purchased crypto for the first time in 2021. Worldwide, 41% of respondents said they are “crypto-curious”.
Among the crypto curious, 47% are women. Only a third of current crypto owners are women in the United States and Europe.
Across Europe, the company’s survey found two in five who own crypto started investing in 2021.
In the US, two in five crypto owners see crypto as a hedge against inflation, which is currently standing at a 40-year high of 7.9%.
