Private securities marketplace SharesPost recently released findings from their third consumer and investor survey on trends in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. The first survey conducted by the firm was in January and the second in July of last year.
Results of the survey are overwhelmingly positive, with most respondents forecasting widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain within ten years.
Consumers and investors continue to offer a bullish, long term outlook for crypto and blockchain,
reads the executive summary. Consumers’ positive outlook remains largely unchanged since the beginning of last year.
That’s already a lot to get excited about but it’s also only the tip of the iceberg. Let’s take a closer look at the survey and its results.
About the survey
The survey was conducted online and was open to people who use SharesPost, either as consumers or as certified investors. Just over 1000 consumers and just under 100 investors responded to the survey.
The majority of consumers who responded to live in North America and make less than $100,000/year. The majority of investors who responded also live in North America but make over $200,000/year.
The survey asked respondents whether Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple were here to stay. It asked if respondents planned on increasing their cryptocurrency holdings and whether cryptocurrencies would go up in value. The survey also asked whether they expected further regulation to come to cryptocurrencies.
The survey didn’t only ask about cryptocurrencies, it also asked about the blockchain technology. It asked investors whether their companies would adopt blockchain and whether consumers thought their employers would adopt it. It asked whether they thought blockchain would disrupt established financial services. The survey also asked what concerns they had or what they saw as obstacles to adoption.
What did respondents have to say about Bitcoin and Altcoins?
Investor faith in Bitcoin has increased by over 30%. Over 80% of investors – compared to less than 50% in January of 2018 – are saying that the cryptocurrency is here to stay. Investor faith in Ethereum has decreased to just below 70% (last year, it was almost 90%) and investor faith in Ripple fluctuates around 40%. The percentage of investors who reported that they plan on increasing cryptocurrency holdings has gone up from 59% to 68% since last summer. Investor concerns regarding security, volatility, and regulation are all down from the previous survey.
Source: SharesPost, “Crypto Survey: Investor sentiment shows signs of rebound”
Consumer faith in Bitcoin has dropped to just over 70% from nearly 80% in July. For Ethereum it’s fallen to just under 50% from just over 50% in July. Consumer faith in Ripple is on the rise but remains below 30%. The percentage of consumers who plan on increasing their crypto holdings is at a survey-record-low 65%.
But what cryptocurrencies did respondents hold other than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Ripple? Investors also had a lot in stable coins, Litecoin, Ox, and Basic Attention Tokens. Consumers had less in stable coins, more in Ethereum classic, and some holdings in Litecoin, Basic Attention Tokens, and Ox.
Consumer concerns regarding regulation and security have both dropped to survey-record-lows. However, consumer concerns over volatility have risen to a survey-record-high.
Most investors also agreed that they expected for cryptocurrencies to go up in value by between 10% and 50%. Most consumers expect cryptocurrencies to go up by 10% to 25%. Around 40% of both investors and consumers also expect crypto regulations to improve and be more clear.
What Did Respondents Have to Say about Blockchain?
Responses regarding the future of blockchain technology were less illuminating because the numbers were much closer. Asked whether companies would adopt blockchain soon, responses — “yes” (39%), “no” (39%), and “I don’t know” (22%) — were all close. The “yes” numbers are up from July and the “no” and “I don’t know” responses are both down. Investors also gave survey-record-high responses that blockchain would disrupt money transfer, payments, and asset and identity management.
Consumers were more confident in their answers and more of them answered that they expected their employers to adopt blockchain. Trends regarding consumer opinion on blockchain disrupting other banking institutions were similar to that of investors.
Adoption of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain
As for the adoption of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, consumers and investors responded similarly as well. Over 60% of both groups said that they expect wide-spread crypto and blockchain adoption by the end of 2025.
Nobody has a crystal ball to look into the future of cryptocurrencies. However, if this survey is representative of all consumers and investors, it’s safe to say that crypto isn’t going anywhere.
Blockchain too seems to be not just-around-the-corner, but certainly on its way.
