New survey shows that 75% of American consumers remain confident in the future of crypto, and 89% still trust exchanges to hold their funds.
2022 was a turbulent year in crypto. Bitcoin slumped to $15,523, FTX and Terra collapsed, and a general bear market turned into a brutal crypto winter. A new annual survey conducted by Paxos, a regulated blockchain infrastructure and tokenisation platform, found that despite volatility, consumer confidence remains high.
The survey found that 75 percent of respondents remain very confident or somewhat confident in the future of cryptocurrency. An additional 72 percent of respondents reported that they have little or no concern about the volatility the crypto markets experienced over the last year.
One of the most surprising figures from the research is that 89 percent of respondents continue to trust “banks, crypto exchanges and/or mobile payments apps” to hold their crypto, even after more than $1 billion of customer funds vanished from FTX.
Of those who followed the FTX collapse, 57% either planned to buy more crypto or simply do nothing as a result of the news.
The survey also revealed a desire for greater expansion of crypto into everyday life. The most desired applications for crypto were:
- Paying for goods and services (42 percent)
- Credit cards or loyalty card programs (38 percent)
- Sending money to friends and family (34 percent)
- Long-term investing (52 percent)
- Day-trading (36 percent)
Most crypto owners want traditional financial services companies to join the crypto ecosystem.
The survey shows that demand for traditional banks and payment companies to join the crypto ecosystem has increased from last year. 75 percent of respondents indicated that they would be likely or very likely to purchase crypto from their primary bank if it were offered – a 12% increase from last year’s survey.
Paxos stated that “banks stand to play a key role in driving crypto success moving forward”, with 45% of respondents stating that they would be encouraged to invest more in crypto if there were more mainstream adoption by banks and other financial institutions.
Mike Coscetta, Head of Revenue at Paxos, said: “Despite fears that the rocky end to 2022 would have a chilling effect on consumer crypto adoption, this research shows that consumers are looking for more integration of crypto into their financial lives, not less.”
He added that more and more consumers are viewing crypto as a “primary staple” of their financial lives, and that businesses and financial institutions that deliver the experiences consumers are looking for in 2023 could carve out a “formidable position” in the market in the coming years.
Notes on the survey
Paxos partnered with Pollfish to survey more than 5,000 respondents via an online survey between January 5, 2023 and January 6, 2023. Participants were required to have total household income greater than $50,000 and must have purchased cryptocurrency in the last three years. All were US residents and 18+ years old.
