8 out of 10 Investors Store Crypto in Hot Wallets: CoinGecko Survey
Eight out of 10 crypto investors store their digital assets in hot wallets, according to a CoinGecko survey that observes crypto storage behavior after the FTX collapse.
Meanwhile, seven in 10 respondents said they kept their assets in centralized exchanges — while another three in 10 said they used cold wallets, according to the survey report.
The survey
The study was held between December 2022 and January and collected responses from 421 individual investors – the report did not specify whether participants used multiple types of storage.
The popularity of self-storage hot wallets reflects community sentiment following the FTX collapse. However, the preferred rate on wallets linked to centralized exchanges is still significantly high.
The report justifies this rate by saying that it is linked to the current rate of dominance of centralized exchanges (CEX) over decentralized ones. The report states:
“Most crypto holders still rely on centralized exchanges for entering and exiting as well as buying and selling crypto, so holders prioritize convenience over security.”
As for survey participants who preferred cold storage for their crypto, the report notes that the percentage was not strong enough to suggest a change in public sentiment.
Self-service wallets
CryptoSlate research from November 2022 revealed that the FTX crash pushed Bitcoin (BTC) reserves into self-deposit wallets. By November 2022, the amount of BTC held in self-deposit wallets reached nearly 15 million – accounting for 78% of the circulating supply at the time.
The FTX collapse also motivated crypto organizations to turn to self-custodial services. Crypto exchange platform Robinhood began working on its own self-custodial wallet in December 2022 and launched it in January.
Additionally, crypto firm Juno publicly advised its users to turn to self-storage or sell their crypto assets in January. On its official Twitter account, the company wrote:
“We strongly recommend withdrawing crypto assets to your self-deposit wallet or selling your crypto for cash in your Juno checking account…”
The shift towards self-storage also increased the use of cold storage in the same period. Data from December 2022 revealed that 450,000 BTC held on an exchange or hot wallet prior to 2022 had been moved to cold storage throughout the year.
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