The Bank of Canada has revealed in its financial system review that as many as 13 per cent Canadian citizens owned Bitcoin as of 2021. In 2018-20, this figure was just 5 per cent.
This increase occurred following “widespread increases in the savings and wealth of Canadians during the pandemic, the bank said in its report. Titled Private Digital Cryptoassests as Investment? Bitcoin Ownership and Use in Canada, 2016-2021, the report was released on October 12, 2022.
Canadian fintech firms have started selling cryptocurrency alongside conventional goods. As such, more people now have access to a platform to learn about and invest in cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, the report said.
Bank of Canada said that since 2016, it has been researching on Bitcoin. It made use of polls to comprehend how Canadians felt about cryptocurrency as an asset class. According to the findings of the 2021 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey, the number of people who possessed cryptocurrencies in the nation has increased since the outbreak.
Surprisingly, despite an increase in Bitcoin ownership in Canada, statistics reveal that more Canadians who own the cryptocurrency are actually unaware of it.
Despite the possibility that more people may own Bitcoin in 2022, it seems that those people don’t “have as much expertise in the currency. Given that the usage of cryptocurrencies is anticipated to increase even more in Canada by 2024, this is something to keep an eye on,” the report said.
According to the report, Ether, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin Cash were the most frequently mentioned altcoins that the respondents said they had heard of. The reported holdings in these, were, however, modest. Only 7 per cent of Canadians owned Ether, and 4 per cent owned either Dogecoin or Bitcoin Cash.
The report further revealed that 90 per cent of individuals polled in 2021 reported having heard of Bitcoin and had some basic knowledge of it, indicating that awareness about Bitcoin is quite high in Canada.
Participants in the study also demonstrated a wide range of knowledge levels. A huge 40 per cent of those who said they owned Bitcoin said they had little or no information about it.
Where Does India Stand?
According to data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which was released in August 2022, over seven per cent of Indians owned cryptocurrency in 2021.
Data from the UN on population proportion in the top-20 economies that owned digital currencies in 2021, found Ukraine at the top on the list. About 12.7 per cent of its population possessed such digital currencies. India ranked seventh on the list.
