Three-quarters of U.S. investors with more than $10,000 in stocks, bonds and mutual funds think bitcoin is a “very risky” investment, a new survey revealed Monday.
A poll conducted by Gallup and Wells Fargo asked U.S.-based investors about their views on bitcoin, finding that just 2 percent currently own any and more than 70 percent “have no interest in ever buying bitcoin.” A further 26 percent are “intrigued” but do not plan to purchase any in the near future, the poll found.
The poll surveyed nearly 2,000 adults in the U.S. who have invested either in a retirement savings account or through another type of account, according to Gallup. It was conducted over the course of a week in early May.
The survey found that bitcoin’s perceived riskiness is the primary reason few investors are holding the cryptocurrency. While 75 percent considered bitcoin to be “very risky,” less than 0.5 percent (or less than 10 people surveyed) thought bitcoin was “not risky at all.” Only 2 percent thought bitcoin was “not too risky,” with the remaining 23 percent thinking of bitcoin as being at least “somewhat risky.”
Another reason for the lack of interest might come from bitcoin’s limited popularity as only 29 percent of investors surveyed in the poll say they knew anything about cryptocurrencies.
In addition, the statistics show that the perception of bitcoin varies among investors in different age and gender.
“Men and younger investors are far more likely than women and seniors to say they know something about bitcoin or other digital currencies,” the pollsters wrote.
Just 3 percent of men and 1 percent of women said they owned bitcoin, with 3 percent of those aged 18 to 49 and 1 percent aged 50 or older.
“For now, most investors are on the sidelines, knowing little to nothing about bitcoin,” the pollsters concluded. “Few are already invested in it, and even fewer plan to jump in soon.”
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