Poll finds Americans more likely to use Bitcoin for short-term and long-term speculative investment, as well as other applications
Americans are more likely than Canadians to invest in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies or use them for other applications in the coming year.
That’s according to a new Ipsos survey by a research team led by Fen Osler Hampson (Carleton University), Eric Jardine (Virginia Tech), and Sean Simpson (Ipsos Public Affairs).
While Canadians trail Americans, both countries lagged the average of the 20 countries/economies studied. One-third of internet users worldwide (35%) – including 24% in the U.S. and 17% in Canada – said they intend to invest in Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency as a short-term investment.
Globally, only 10% said they're extremely likely to do so, while another 25% say they're somewhat likely to do so, indicating some interest in this type of investment.
When it comes to using cryptocurrency as a long-term speculative investment, the geographic breakdown of respondents likely to do so was similar (36% country average; 24% USA; 19% Canada).
Furthermore, Americans polled were more likely than Canadians to use Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to buy goods and services (24% vs 18%), avoid cross-border banking fees (19% vs 14%), protect their wealth from taxes (17% vs 11%), and send remittances across national borders (14% vs 11%). These ratios were comparable to those found throughout Europe.
Nonetheless, they were much lower than in Latin America (LATAM), Asia-Pacific (APAC), and the Middle East/Africa, where cryptocurrencies are widely used to purchase goods and services.
The survey also found that younger generations are more likely to intend to use cryptocurrency.
In the United States, four out of ten 34-year-olds were at least somewhat likely to use a cryptocurrency to acquire a good or service in the coming year, while only 28% of those 35-49 and 9% of 50-74 were interested.
While the numbers are lower in Canada, the pattern continues: those aged 18-34 are the most likely (29%) to say they'll use a cryptocurrency to buy a good or service in the coming year, while those aged 35-49 (22%) and 50-74 (6%) were less likely to do so.
