Cryptmas: Crypto makes a popular last minute Christmas gift, study reveals
Shoppers looking for last minute Christmas presents should consider gifting their loved ones crypto according to a new study.
Almost three quarters of 18-34 year olds, some 71 per cent, said they would be happy to receive crypto as a last-minute Christmas gift according to research by start up Zumo.
Londoners were twice as likely to want crypto than people living elsewhere in the country while demand was predominantly driven by men across all age groups with 40 per cent of men and 25 per cent of women saying they are keen to receive digital assets as a gift.
“There is a clear generational divide between people who want a crypto Christmas, and those that say bah humbug,” said Nick Jones the chief executive of decentralized exchange Zumo. “Two entire generations have been failed by traditional banking, and they are comparatively poorer than any previous generation. No wonder they look at the risk and rewards offered by digital currencies and are more willing to take their chance,” he continued.
Young people added crypto to their Christmas list for a variety of reasons: over a third of respondents said they already own crypto and want more, 39 per cent want to get into digital assets, but do not know how and a quarter said it would make an interesting, fun or different Christmas gift.
“It’s a great shame that most people don’t know the first thing about how to buy someone crypto as a Christmas gift,” Jones added, pointing to survey data which showed that only 16 per cent of people would know how to buy someone crypto as an Christmas gift, with this figure dropping to seven per cent among people aged 45 and over.
The data reflects concerns by UK regulators that investors are being drawn into the crypto space without an awareness of how digital assets work or the risks involved.
With around 0.1 per cent of British household wealth now in crypto currencies and an estimated 2.3m people holding crypto the Bank of England has called for urgent regulation. Meanwhile, the advertising watchdog has raised a ‘red alert’ over adverts which promote digital assets and take advantage of investors’ inexperience.
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