43% of Aussies Expect To Own Crypto; Bitfinex’s LEO Token Pumps After $3.6B in Stolen BTC Move
By Stock Head
More middle-aged Australians have gotten more into crypto over the past two years, and 42 per cent of Aussies believe it will be more widely accepted in the future, a new survey has found.
Market research firm Ruby Cha Cha surveyed 2,055 Australians across all major cities for Coinspot’s crypto awareness survey.
It found that 22 per cent of Australians had bought, sold or traded crypto over the past four years, and 43 per cent expect to own crypto in the next five years.
While Generation Z and Millenials have traditionally been the biggest crypto adopters, the survey found that awareness of crypto among Generation X had increased since 2020. A total of 61 per cent of that generation had some understanding of crypto, with 22 per cent saying they knew a “fair bit,” up from 14 per cent in 2020.
“Almost every Aussie has heard the term crypto at this point. There’s a good chance your grandparents have heard of, or maybe even invested in Bitcoin,” said Tim Wilks, a marketing executive at Coinspot.
Slightly less than half of all Generation X members, 49 per cent, said they expected to own crypto in the next five years, compared to 64 per cent of Generation Z and 54 per cent of Millennials.
“From the data it appears as though we are reaching an inflection point in mainstream adoption when the historically more conservative/risk averse generations start to jump on board in larger numbers,” Wilks said.
“From institutional investors, private offices, corporates, to everyday mums and dads, the appeal and opportunity that exists with crypto is becoming better understood.”
More than 1 in 4 (27 per cent) of Australians said they trust crypto “completely” — although the survey was conducted between November 12 and 22, before the December crash that may have shaken investor confidence.
Bitcoins were still trading for around US$58,000 on November 22; on Wednesday morning they were changing hands for US$38,577.
Crypto market up 1.8%
Overall the crypto market stood at $1.86 trillion, with BTC up 0.6 per cent in the past 24 hours and Ethereum up 2.7 per cent to US$2,769.
Bitfinex’s LEO Token was the biggest gainer in the top 100, pumping 21.6 per cent to $4.50 after 94,643.29 Bitcoins – US$3.6 billion worth – from a 2016 hack of the crypto exchange were moved between wallets in 23 different transactions.
The exchange was hacked on August 2, 2016, with the attackers stealing a total of 119,756 Bitcoin worth US$71.8 million at the time.
Traders appear to be speculating that Bitfinex might be able to regain the stolen funds, in which case the BTC should be used to buyback LEO tokens.
But the stolen funds have moved before and it didn’t amount to much. The wallet with the funds is closely monitored, making converting the BTC to cash very difficult.
Decentraland (MANA) was the biggest loser in the top 100, falling 8.2 per cent to $2.65.
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