Bitcoin buyers tend to be more interested in generating a profit from investment rather than using the cryptocurrency as a method for paying for goods or services, according to a new Lendedu Bitcoin survey. The average investor in the survey owned less than one half of a Bitcoin, though considering the cryptocurrency’s recent value spike, that’s perhaps not too surprising.
Buying Bitcoin today is easier than ever before, but it’s still a somewhat risky investment. Prices regularly fluctuate, even if they have trended up throughout 2017. Still, of the 564 American Bitcoin investors that Lendedu surveyed, most of them are in it to make money, rather than use the cryptocurrency to buy anything.
Of those polled, 22 percent said that they saw Bitcoin as a long-term investment option similar to gold or silver. 41 percent claimed that they believed it was a “world changing” technology and that they were on the cusp of a new generation of payment platforms. Only eight percent of those surveyed claimed they used Bitcoin to purchase something.
Another interesting element in the survey was the question of how long people planned to retain their investment. Considering Bitcoin value has increased sevenfold in 2017 but has suffered minor dips along the way, a longer investment makes sense. Still, some 16 percent claimed that they would hold their Bitcoin for less than a year.
The most common segment of those polled was the one-to-three-year crowd, who made up just under 40 percent of the total. Some 12 percent however, claimed they would be holding on to their Bitcoin for more than 10 years, which suggests a really long-term outlook for some investors.
The average value of surveyed investor’s Bitcoin was $2,930, or around 0.45 Bitcoins. For many that’s a collection built up over time, too, with close to 70 percent of those surveyed having never sold any Bitcoin. Considering the average value of most investors Bitcoin wallets, that would suggest that a majority got into the market recently, as even tapping into the market a couple of years ago would have seen greater returns on investment of comparatively little capital.
For Bitcoin to become as mainstream as many backers hope it will though, it will need to become accepted by more financial institutions. It appears that some investors will be helping it along in that respect, as some 64 percent of those surveyed claimed they had, or intended to, inform the IRS of their involvement with Bitcoin.
