U.K. Regulator FCA Finds Only 27% of Brits are Aware About Crypto Assets
U.K.’s regulatory body - Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) - has recently published two reports giving a glimpse into the consumer attitude and awareness for virtual digital currencies across Britain.
The research report is basically a nation-wide survey of 2132 British consumers and also includes qualitative interviews of experts from the crypto sector. The national survey notes that the number of consumers accepting to have bought cryptocurrencies is just 51. From this, the FCA concludes that only 3% of the Brits have bought cryptocurrencies.
Among those reported to have bought cryptocurrencies, half of them have spent under £200 ($263) while a majority of them say that they have financed the purchase from their disposable income and not from the borrowed money.
A Vast Majority of Brits Don’t Use Crypto Assets
Among those buying cryptocurrencies, 50% reported that they have spent money on BTC, a 34% chose Ethereum (ETH), while 20% claimed to have invested in Ripple (XRP), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
The national survey results highlight that there is a fair possibility of under-reporting by crypto owners willing to keep their investments private. However, the regulators are convinced that they don’t have a major impact on average consumers that could pose any risks to the U.K.’s financial scenario.
FCA’s Executive Director of Strategy and Competition, Christopher Wood said: “The results suggest that although crypto assets may not be well understood by many consumers, the vast majority don’t buy or use them currently. Whilst the research suggests some harm to individual crypto asset users, it does not suggest a large impact on wider society.”
Awareness Among Brits Regarding Cryptocurrencies
The national survey report from FCA that some of the cryptocurrency investors were greedy while others were clueless. Only a handful of people interviewed by the FCA stated that they made crypto purchases without any due diligence or research beforehand.
The FCA also points the crypto purchase traits to “risky behaviours” like listening to friends and family, or social media influencers over the government warnings. The FCA also notes that “many told the qualitative researchers that they were distrustful of mainstream media or official sources of information.”
Also, only 27% of the surveyed people had some idea of cryptocurrencies while the rest of 73% had no clue regarding it. Also, the term “cryptocurrency” was more popular among the middle class and upper middle-class citizens in the age group of 20-44 years old.
source:
https://cryptoscanner.co/article/uk-regulator-fca-finds-only-27-of-brit…