Despite market downturn, US sees 44% increase in retail crypto investors

The crypto winter has not dampened the interest and trust of Americans in the cryptocurrency sector, according to a Crypto Pulse survey of 28,000 institutional and retail investors across 23 countries.

The research was an initiative of the London-headquartered crypto exchange Bitstamp.

In the U.S., 61% of retail respondents said they invested in crypto in Q2 2022. That’s an increase of 44% from just 42% investing in crypto in Q1, according to the survey. Trust in cryptocurrencies in the country also jumped from 61% in Q1 2022 to 73% in the second quarter.

Canada, on the other hand, saw a drop in trust in crypto below 50% in Q2, according to the survey. In South America, trust in cryptocurrencies remained high — 77% in Brazil, 69% in Chile, and 70% in Mexico.

But despite the spike in retail investors jumping into crypto and the high trust, respondents from the U.S. as well as Canada feel the need for more crypto and blockchain education. According to the survey, 44% of retail respondents across the U.S. and Canada said they don’t know enough to start investing in crypto.

Institutional interest in crypto also remains high despite the crypto market downturn. In the U.S., 69% of surveyed institutions are recommending crypto to their clients while in Mexico the number stands at 78%. In Brazil and Argentina, 72% and 71% of institutions respectively are recommending crypto, as per the survey.

Globally, however, trust in cryptocurrencies has eroded slightly among both institutional and retail investors. The percentage of retail investors who find cryptocurrencies trustworthy slipped from 67% in Q1 to 65% in Q2 while the percentage among institutions dropped from 70% to 67% in Q2.

Nevertheless, the number of retail respondents who are investing in crypto or trading on a daily or weekly basis went up globally from 56% in Q1 to 60% in Q2. Additionally, one in four institutions plans to make crypto their primary source of investment, according to the survey.

Europe

Across Europe, the survey showed that the percentage of retail investors who trust cryptocurrency fell from 54% in Q1 to 52% in Q2 2022. Like in the U.S. and Canada, Europeans also feel the need for more crypto education. 21% of Europeans who do not currently invest in crypto said they don’t know enough to start.

There was a 7-point increase in the number of retail investors investing in crypto compared to Q1, the survey showed.

With an increase in crypto scams and the collapse of major crypto lenders, the number of retail investors asking for more regulation has increased from 23% to 26% in Q2. On the contrary, institutional investors feel that crypto regulation is picking up steam with only 23% saying there’s a dearth of regulation, compared to 31% in Q1.

Additionally, 31% of institutional respondents said they want to increase their investments in crypto in Q1, compared to 28% in Q1.