Crypto: Are The Public Buying It?

New research from UK based money app Ziglu, which was created by Mark Hipperson, one of the founders of Starling Bank, reveals 10% of adults in the UK claim to currently own cryptocurrencies. A further 7% say they have owned them in the past but no longer do.

Of those people who currently own cryptocurrencies, 39% say they first bought them in the past 12 months, and a further 16% say they did so around a year ago. One in three (34%) say they first bought cryptocurrencies between two and five years ago.

The findings reveal 74% of cryptocurrency owners are men, and 46% are aged 34 and under. One in four people aged 35 to 44 say they own cryptocurrency, compared to just 2% of those who are 65 and over.

When it comes to how much people have in cryptocurrencies, most are ‘dabbling’ with 24% claiming they have spent £100 or less buying them, and a further 28% have spent between £100 and £500. Only 23% of people with cryptocurrencies have spent £1,000 or more buying them, but 5% have spent over £10,000.

For insurers, it’s worth considering that those who do dabble in crypto may leave themselves open to increased cyber risks, depending on who they use to trade, whether they mix work and personal emails like politicians do etc. Then there’s the whole KYC regulations for HNW clients; how do you assess how cash solvent someone is when their Bitcoin holding varies in value by 50K from one week to the next? These are all issues that insurers and brokers will have to deal with in the future is crypto really does become mainstream.

Mark Hipperson, Founder and CEO of Ziglu said: “Our research shows that cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly mainstream – especially amongst younger people. Coronavirus has accelerated growth in the retail cryptocurrency market by at least five years with people spending more time at home and wanting to learn more about it safely. We are seeing huge growth in the number of new clients wanting safe and simple access to crypto.

“Customers are coming to Ziglu as we are the only fully regulated crypto provider in the UK. We also have the highest security standards and insurance against cyber-attack and offer one of the best user experiences in terms of how easy we are to use for people new to the cryptocurrency market and wishing to dip their toes in the water.”