Survey Finds Most Australians Still Have No Idea About Crypto Or NFTs

Contrary to findings published last week by the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI), a new Saxo Markets survey reveals only one in 10 Australians knows what a cryptocurrency is, with those older than 65 even less certain.

There is also a divide between the sexes, according to the Saxo survey. Around 21 percent of Australian men claim to have a handle on what cryptocurrencies are and how they work, compared to just seven percent of women.

These findings stand in stark contrast to the IRCI survey, which found that:

• 28.8 percent (or almost three in 10) of Australians either own or have owned crypto (up from 18.4 percent in 2020); and
• the proportion of women who own crypto has almost doubled in 12 months from 10.1 percent in 2020 to 20 percent.

The Saxo poll found that bitcoin was easily the best-known crypto, albeit with an underwhelming 38 percent of Australians surveyed recognising the name. The next most familiar cryptocurrencies were Ethereum, ringing a bell for 12 per cent of Australians surveyed, and Dogecoin next on 8 per cent.

By comparison, the IRCI survey found that nine in 10 Australians were aware of bitcoin with more than one in five owning it. The next-ranked crypto was Ethereum, at 11 percent (up from 5 percent ownership in 2020), on a relative par with the Saxo survey.

Three in Four Australians ‘Unaware’ of NFTs

Perhaps the most surprising Saxo statistic was that 75 per cent of Australians apparently have not even heard of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), though they’ve been by far the hottest blockchain commodity in 2021. Below is a table relating to Saxo’s findings:

As Australian Crypto Owners Push Toward a Million, a CBDC is On the Way

Last week, Australian Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg estimated that more than 800,000 Australians have owned cryptocurrency at least once. Crypto was a “fast-moving area” that the government needed to get ahead of, Frydenberg said, while also declaring both the Commonwealth and Reserve banks were planning to introduce a central cryptocurrency.

The Saxo survey found that 42 per cent of Australians would use a cryptocurrency if it were made legal tender tomorrow, but only one in four agreed that cryptos should be declared legal by the government. If cryptos were in legal circulation, one in three Aussies said they would incorporate them in their savings or retirement plans.

In August, the 2021 Global Blockchain Survey conducted by multinational accounting firm Deloitte revealed that 76 percent of respondents believed crypto would be a strong alternative to, or outright replace, fiat money within the next decade.

According to a May survey by TradingView, cryptocurrencies had by then become Australians’ second-most preferred assets, outranking traditional assets such as bonds and futures. Just a month later, another survey by international crypto exchange Kraken found that 40 percent of millennials preferred investing in digital assets over real estate.