The survey shows that Russian households prefer crypto to gold
A new survey by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) shows that more households are keeping a higher percentage of their money in crypto wallets.
In particular, the bank has conducted this survey every two years since 2013. According to the published document, Russian families have more crypto assets than mutual funds and gold.
Survey results for crypto holdings of Russian families
The monetary authority surveyed over 6,000 households and over 12,000 individuals in 32 Russian regions. The CBR survey report shows that the average average value of crypto holdings among Russian households in fiat is 17,500 rubles (about $225).
The median result indicates that the crypto funds held by more than half of these Russian families exceeded the survey threshold.
Earlier in 2021, CBR reported that the annual volume of Russian crypto transactions reached around $5 billion. The report noted that over 65% of Russian households had financial assets, with a median of 15,700 rubles ($200). In addition, 64.5% of these households save money in bank accounts, with an average of 15,000 rubles.
A notable finding from the survey is that 0.4% of the families surveyed have investments in cryptocurrency and Bitcoin. The figure is small in relation to the sample population, but it is higher than the 0.3% recorded for households that invested in mutual funds and gold investments.
Furthermore, about 1.6% of the households sampled in the CBR study invested in stocks and bonds, with an average of 26,500 rubles. Another 1.2% of survey respondents said they have electronic wallet holdings, with an average of 1,000 rubles.
Crypto goes mainstream amid war between Russia and Ukraine
Cryptocurrencies have proven useful for financing military supplies and provisions for displaced families in the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. While the Ukrainian government raised millions from direct cryptocurrency donations, citizens used crypto as an alternative to financial solutions when banks failed.
Many Russian citizens have also opted for crypto-powered transactions for their cross-border payments following the bans from several countries. The Russian government is now relaxing its hawkish stance against cryptocurrency after banning crypto payments in July 2022.
In September 2022, the Russian Central Bank, with the Ministry of Finance, agreed to allow citizens to use cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments. Russian authorities aimed to promote local cryptocurrency exchanges amid growing geopolitical barriers.
In particular, Russia plans to launch a national cryptocurrency exchange. According to local media, Russia’s Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance supported the move. Furthermore, a report from Russia Briefing revealed that the Russian national cryptocurrency exchange would launch in Q2 2023.
Disclaimer: Our authors’ opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Do your own due diligence before taking any action related to the content of this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility if you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.
