Retail crypto investment trends and attitudes – EndoTech key findings

EndoTech recently conducted a survey amid the ongoing crypto winter to evaluate the various crypto investment trends.

The survey comes at the height of regulatory uncertainties and an elongated crypto winter against the backdrop of several well-publicized crypto failures of firms like Voyager which held a takeover auction in September, Three Arrows Capital, and Celsius.

Key findings of the survey

1. 17% of American use cryptocurrencies

EndoTech found out that the percentage of Americans who own cryptocurrencies has flattened to 17% since the current crypto market is much more subdued both by the current crypto winter and the introduction of centralized crypto regulations.

2. Men are more into crypto than women

According to EndoTech’s survey, crypto penetration remains stronger among men than women. According to the survey, about 19% of American men own cryptocurrency while only about 13% of American women do.

3. Profits are the main driving factor for crypto investors

While crypto purists always back decentralized finance (DeFi) because of its technology and principles, the average investor is more interested in the potential for profits.

According to the survey, 47% of investors invest in crypto for profits while another 43% invest in crypto for the fundamental promise of decentralized finance. There is an 8% who invest in crypto to reject the principles of traditional, centralized financial institutions.

4. Confidence in cryptocurrencies has improved

According to the survey, investors are more confident in crypto than last year despite the current meltdown.

However, 60% of those surveyed portrayed a lack of trust in cryptocurrencies largely because of a lack of proper regulations.

5. Investors would be more interested to invest in crypto if there is more regulation

77% said that they would invest in crypto if there was more regulation to provide more guidelines and transparency on investing. However, the push to make DeFi answerable to centralized regulations seems antithetical to some including Laguna Labs CEO, Stefan Rust.

6. Investors see crypto as a hedge against inflation

Three-quarters of those surveyed see crypto as a hedge against roaring inflation going by the rampant inflation rates in the current and past quarter. Internal reports show inflation above 20% in the UK and 8% in the US forcing the US Federal Reserve to continuously raise interest rates.

7. The profit expectations of crypto investors are unrealistically high

94% of the surveyed investors expected to make more than 20% returns on their crypto investments. A further 41% are expected to make more than 50% returns.

However, the expectations have come to not, especially with nine months of persistent price erosion.

8. Crypto investors lost a significant last year

According to the survey, 29% of crypto investors have lost more than 50% of their money.

Conclusion

As investors see an opportunity in cryptocurrencies, they are also alive to the fact that regulations, environmentally responsible actions and advanced risk management tools can pave way for more profits.

Despite the high-profit expectations, investors are less likely to advise and encourage loved ones to participate in crypto owing to the market volatility that is associated with cryptocurrencies.