Hongkongers are among the world’s biggest investors in cryptocurrencies, Visa study says
- The study found that 18 per cent of Hongkongers are active investors in cryptocurrency, while 13 per cent are passive owners
- About two in three active investors were male, with the exception of Hong Kong, ‘where there is little difference in participation among genders’
About a third of Hong Kong residents have invested in, or used, cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange, the second-highest engagement with the new asset class among developed markets surveyed by credit card company Visa.
Crypto or cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency secured by cryptography and is also used to buy products and services, but is not backed by a government authority, which potentially makes it a risky asset class.
The study found that 18 per cent of Hongkongers are active investors in cryptocurrency, while 13 per cent are passive owners, just behind numbers for the US, where 27 per cent of those surveyed were active investors and 9 per cent passive owners of cryptocurrency.
The Visa survey interviewed more than 6,000 respondents across eight markets, including three emerging markets – Argentina, Brazil and South Africa. Five developed markets were included in the study.
For the developed markets surveyed, which also included Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom, active owners of cryptocurrency came in at 19 per cent and passive owners at 9 per cent. In emerging markets, 23 per cent were active owners of cryptocurrency while 14 per cent were passive owners.
Active owners are defined as consumers who have used cryptocurrency to send or receive money, buy goods or to accept payment at least once, while passive owners are those who have bought cryptocurrency as an investment but have neither transferred nor transacted with it.