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Majority of British crypto owners revealed to be hodlers: Survey

In the U.K., crypto owners prefer centralized exchanges and claim their assets to be largely profitable.

An average crypto asset holder in Great Britain would be young, male and hodler. And they would consider crypto to be a ‘fun investment.’ Such are the findings from the fresh research, conducted by Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) with the help of research agency Kantar UK and published on Tuesday. 

Taking a quantitative approach, the research sought to establish the prevalence of owning crypto assets, the types and amounts held, and the platforms individuals use to buy crypto assets. It consisted of a survey with a representative sample of 5,916 United Kingdom adults, including 713 crypto asset owners.

The report revealed that 10% of the U.K. citizens hold or have held crypto, with 55% never having sold any (equivalent to 5% of the adult population). Only 7% are currently holding more than £5,000 (almost $6000 by press time) in value, while 52% of current owners have holdings of up to £1,000 ($1200).

Related: UK government seeks public input on DeFi taxation

Other significant findings come as no surprise — crypto owners tend to be younger than the general population with 76% of them 45 years, and mostly they are male (69%). A vast majority of them hold cryptocurrencies (79%), while the second most popular type of asset is utility tokens (20%).

An important takeaway refers to the common trading pattern — 68% of owners most frequently acquire crypto from “centralized exchanges” and 81% use these exchanges to sell or exchange their assets.

The majority of owners reported making a profit (63%) over the past year when disposing of cryptoassets, 14% claim they made a loss and, similarly, 14% revealed they broke even. As the survey was conducted between February 2021 and June 2021, this data should be attributed to 2020.

On July 5, HMRC made a call for an evidence paper, describing its intention to study whether administrative hassles and costs may be reduced for taxpayers who participate in the crypto industry.

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Number goes up: A third of Brits have bought crypto, says Coinbase report

A Qualtrics report carried out by Coinbase shows that the number of Brits who have bought crypto is up 4% to 33% since October 2021.

Bitcoin (BTC) number go up technology is boosting crypto adoption in the United Kingdom. More and more Brits are buying cryptocurrency according to a Coinbase research piece carried out by Qualtrics.

The key takeaways indicate that 33% of British people own crypto, up from 29% in October 2021. Plus, over half, or 61%, of those surveyed intend to increase their holdings over the next 12 months.

The report also highlighted that Bitcoin is the king of crypto among U.K. consumers as it is the most commonly owned cryptocurrency. Ethereum (ETH) is held by 52% of those surveyed with Dogecoin (DOGE) and Binance Coin (BNB) at 34% and 33% respectively.

It’s not the retail market that’s interested in crypto: Her Majesty’s Treasury also appears to be sticking around despite sluggish Bitcoin price action. HM Treasury’s decision to create a royal NFT by the summer caught the crypto community’s attention in April, amidst discussion surrounding stablecoin regulation in the U.K.

A Coinbase spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the population of 67 million Brits creates a “leading European hub of crypto investment,” highlight that there is a growing proportion of people engaging with these assets.

"Recent survey work suggests that the adoption trend may continue, with many sharing ambitions to expand the size and diversification of their portfolios."

Adding a note of caution, the spokesperson suggested that “it is clear that there is more work to be done around boosting understanding and awareness of these assets.”

Related: Home sweet hodl: How a Bitcoiner used BTC to buy his mom a house

An experienced Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) employee recently took up a post at the digital assets department, in order to support the government’s “vision for crypto.”

Cointelegraph has compiled an analysis of changes to the U.K.’s financial and crypto landscape in light of the recent changes to the FCA’s crypto stance.

Peter Schiff Warns of Mass Bitcoin ETF Liquidations and ‘Crypto Black Monday’