72% of Russians say they have never bought Bitcoin: Survey

Cryptocurrency adoption in Russia has not been too fast as an overwhelming majority of Russians have apparently never bought crypto, according to a new survey.

Swiss cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem has conducted a poll to learn more about cryptocurrency investors in Russia, local news agency Kommersant reported on Thursday.

A whopping 72% of the 2,100 survey respondents claimed they have never bought cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), leaving Russian crypto investors in a significant minority.

At the same time, only 9% of survey participants indicated that they were negative about cryptocurrencies, while 45% of respondents said that they had a positive attitude towards digital currencies, while the remaining 46% were neutral.

According to the survey, the “ability to earn” was the biggest positive thing about crypto investing, with 44% of respondents choosing to invest in crypto because of this factor. On the other hand, the “absence of physical support” was cited as the most worrying point, with 68% of respondents saying they did not want to buy crypto because of this reason.

Despite the fact that the vast majority of Russians are apparently snot introduced to crypto investments, many are considering potential investments. 31% of respondents indicated that they were ready to buy crypto in the next six months, while 40% claimed they were still unsure about any potential investment in crypto. Only 30% of participants said they were not planning any crypto purchases in the near future.

Russia’s low crypto adoption rate aligns with a low level of crypto awareness and education. According to Tangem’s data, it was found that only 6% of respondents had a good knowledge of crypto, while 80% were only familiar with the term.

According to estimates by InDeFi CEO Sergey Mendeleev, the number of active and passive crypto users in Russia currently makes up less than 1% of the total population of 144.4 million. He said this is likely due to the absence of legal methods to buy or sell crypto in Russia, as well as the risk of funds being blocked by banks.

Related: Pro-Russian groups collected only 4% of the crypto donations sent to Ukraine

On the other hand, some experts believe that Russians have turned to crypto due to currency restrictions by the Bank of Russia. TerraCrypto founder Nikita Vassev reportedly said that many Russians have taken cash out of the country using stablecoins and Bitcoin and then cashed out in countries like Georgia or the United Arab Emirates.

Earlier this year, the Kremlin estimated that Russians would hold around $200 billion in crypto by the end of 2021. Another survey last year suggested that 77% of Russian investors preferred Bitcoin over gold and currency.