(Kitco News) - Investment in the crypto industry has been dominated by men since the asset class first arrived on the scene in 2010, but that is beginning to change. Cryptocurrency adoption among women is on the rise, according to a recent survey conducted by Israel-based investment company eToro.
In the firm's recently released Retail Investor Beat Q4 2022 report, the eToro team found that "crypto is now the second most widely owned asset class for young women (age 18-34) after cash, suggesting it is succeeding where traditional financial markets have sometimes failed in bringing more women to the table." Amongst women of all ages, crypto was the joint second-fastest-growing asset class after cash in Q4 with a 17% increase in ownership.
Data from the survey showed that female ownership of crypto saw a significant rise between Q3 and Q4 of last year, climbing from 29% to 34%, while the increase in adoption among men was only one percent. The survey included around 10,000 global retail investors in 13 countries.
At the end of last year, well-known crypto proponent Tim Draper predicted that the price of Bitcoin would reach $250,000 by the end of 2023, largely due to an increase in adoption by women.
"My assumption is that since women control 80% of retail spending, and only 1 in 7 bitcoin wallets are currently held by women, that the dam is about to break," Draper told CNBC. The results from the eToro survey show that he might be on to something about how crypto adoption among women could benefit the industry.
Crypto saw an upswing in adoption across the board in Q4 despite the poor performance of the asset class in 2022. The proportion of retail investors who own crypto rose from 36% to 39% quarter-on-quarter. "This was in part driven by a slightly older cohort of investors seemingly looking to buy the dip," the report said.
In Q4 2022, the proportion of retail investors aged 35-44 and 45-54 who held crypto rose by five percentage points apiece, to 53% and 36%, respectively.
The main reason cited for investing in crypto was the opportunity to make high returns (37%), while 34% said they believe in the power of blockchain and think crypto is a transformative asset class.
|
| Five trends that will push the adoption of blockchain past 1 billion users |
A majority of respondents (61%) continue to avoid investing in the cryptocurrency sector, with 50% of those respondents citing the perceived risk of the asset class. In comparison, 30% cited a lack of robust regulation as the reason for not investing.
"From what we can see, a lot of retail investors are taking a 'wait and see' position when it comes to tech and crypto," said Ben Laidler, Global Markets Strategist at eToro.
While the proportion of respondents who shun crypto remains in the majority, the data indicates that fact is slowly changing, especially thanks to an uptick in adoption from businesses. According to a recent survey conducted by Casper Labs, out of the 603 businesses that participated, 90% indicated that they have already deployed blockchain in some capacity.
