IRCI report: In Australia, crypto has “hit the mainstream”
Australian cryptocurrency exchange, Independent Reserve, has released its Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) 2021 report and states that “crypto has hit the mainstream.”
The IRCI is an annual survey of over 2,000 Australians and assigns a rating out of 100 on four aspects of Australian attitudes towards cryptocurrency: awareness, adoption, trust, and confidence. This year, the index hit an all-time high of 54 out of 100 reflecting “widespread awareness, optimism, trust, and adoption of cryptocurrencies”.
The report states that 91.2 per cent of Australians have heard of at least one cryptocurrency, with 89 per cent of Australians aware of Bitcoin, and 21.1 per cent owning it.
Over one quarter (28.8 per cent) of Australians now own or have owned crypto. Western Australia leads adoption, with 32.9 per cent of Western Aussies owning crypto.
Almost half (47.5 per cent) of Australians said “friends or family” was what influenced them into adopting crypto as an investment.
In terms of age demographics, 24-34-year-olds are the most trusting of crypto. Of that group, 27.6 per cent said they purchased crypto “to get rich”. Meanwhile, those that are most sceptical are those 65 years or older.
Most (89 per cent) of Australian crypto owners have either made money or broke even, which is up 11 per cent from last year.
“There is still a way to go with education and regulation”, the Independent Reserve writes, “as evidenced by the 28.6 per cent of Australians who don’t currently own crypto telling us they would invest if there were better consumer protections in place. Another 26.6% said they’d buy crypto if industry regulation was improved.”
Just over one-third (36.5 per cent) of Australians said they have not invested in crypto as they believe the price is too volatile and that crypto seems too risky. Other reasons include it being too confusing or difficult (28.5 per cent) perception that crypto “is a scam” (24.5 per cent), or they’re “just not interested” (32.3 per cent).
To read the full 14-page report, download it from the Independent Reserve website here.
