Over 40% of Singaporeans own crypto: survey

43% of the 1,500 Singaporean respondents in a recent Independent Reserve survey said they own some amount of cryptocurrency. In comparison, last year’s research estimated the figure at around 40%, while adoption levels were 43% in 2021 (during the bull run).

77% of HODLs said they hold two or more digital assets, with portfolio diversification as the main reason behind the investment.

The new trends after the market revival

Aside from the growing crypto adoption, Singaporeans have shown increased knowledge, with 91% saying they are aware of the asset class. Bitcoin is the most popular, with 87% recognition, while Ethereum is second with 51%.

“The growing popularity of altcoins shows that more Singaporeans are starting to gain more awareness of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.

This is a promising sign for the industry as more investors gain exposure to different types of blockchains and projects that have innovative utility and potential to be adopted more widely for real-world applications and use cases,” Lasanka Perera – Managing Director of Independent Reserve Singapore – said .

Diversifying portfolios remains the primary reason for entering the ecosystem (54%). The figure is even higher when talking about investors with 5+ years of experience (68%) while getting rich (48%) is second.

Half of people who jumped on the bandwagon in the past 12 months said they were influenced by family members, friends or social media.

Young people are much more active in the industry than older generations. Those aged 26 to 35 have the best knowledge in the field. 59% of the 18 to 25-year-old group believe better education is an important factor in gaining trust in digital assets, compared to 53% in 2022.

Most long-term owners have recorded profits

The turbulent 2022 has affected short-term confidence in cryptocurrencies. Despite that, 72% of all HODLers said they would recommend investing in digital assets to friends and family.

78% of those who have been part of the ecosystem for over five years saw the value of their crypto increase. On the other hand, 40% of individuals who started investing less than a year ago had reported losses.

Female investors are on the rise

Independent Reserve determined that 37% of female participants have invested in cryptocurrencies, up 7% from last year’s figure.

Women have also outperformed men when it comes to making a profit, with 76% admitting to either making money or breaking even. At the same time, 72% of male investors confirmed the same.

A quarter of women have allocated over 20% of their wealth to the asset class, and 48% plan to invest even more in the future.

Higher income fuels larger investments

Next, the research found that the investment amount depends on people’s salary. Only 8% of Singaporean investors earning up to $4,999 a month revealed that they allocated $1,000 or more per month to crypto. In contrast, 53% of people with salaries higher than $10,000 give away $1,000 monthly.

One in four HODLs invests over $1,000 every 30 days in digital assets, an increase of 4% from 2022. The share of those buying crypto worth $10,000 or more on a monthly basis has risen by 1%.

“High income earners are likely to allocate more of their investment portfolio to cryptocurrency. Overall, the higher income brackets say their cryptocurrency investments made money or broke even.

The S$7,000 to S$9,000 income segment, which allocated the highest portion of its investment portfolio to cryptocurrency, has 67% claiming to have earned. They are also the segment most confident in the long-term viability of the cryptocurrency market.” the study outlined.