The securities watchdog stated that nearly half of Australian retail investors had cryptocurrency by the end of 2021. More than half got their information via YouTube videos than financial advisors.
ASIC’s November survey of 1,053 investors found that 44% had cryptocurrency. This makes it the second most popular investment, after Australian shares.
One quarter of respondents who had cryptocurrency as an investment said that it was their only investment.
As Australia’s Labor government takes over a long-running study on how and whether to regulate digital assets, the data will increase pressure.
It legitimizes widely circulated statistics on high levels of Australian cryptocurrency ownership, which were last year dismissed by a top central banking official as “implausible”.
Survey results also revealed that 41% of respondents used social media outlets to find investment information. 20% named Alphabet Inc’s YouTube and 11% named Meta Platforms’ Facebook.
According to the survey, only 13% of respondents got their information from a broker or financial advisor.
Joe Longo, ASIC Chair, stated in a statement that “we are concerned about how many people surveyed reported investing in unregulated and volatile crypto-asset products.”
“The crypto-asset investments are not protected by the law because they are now mainstream and heavily promoted,” said Mr. To better protect investors, there is strong argument for regulation of crypto assets.
The survey found that investors have been tempted to leave speculative assets due to interest rate increases. This has caused cryptocurrencies’ prices to plummet and some crypto-related businesses to go bankrupt.
The survey was done in the same month that record-breaking bitcoin and ether prices hit. The Australian stock market has fallen about 6%, with bitcoin and ether having dropped about two-thirds between then.
