Close to 1 in 5 Australians own crypto 

According to a survey published by comparison site Finder, almost 18% of Australians own crypto. 

Australians adopting crypto despite government hesitancy

While the Australian government has been taking its time adapting and regulating cryptocurrencies, Australians have been more open to them. Finder, a comparison site, published a survey that measures the growth of crypto globally by surveying more than 41,600 people from 22 countries. It found that Australia has the third-highest rate of crypto ownership (17.8%), ranking ahead of countries such as Indonesia (16.7%) and the city of Hong Kong (15.8%), which are traditionally crypto-friendly. Australia is also far ahead of the global average (11.4%). 

Finder CEO Fred Schebesta was not surprised by the results, saying that Australians love to gamble and acknowledging how savvy they were in terms of finance, which comes in handy when dealing with cryptocurrencies. The lack of regulation around crypto also made it easy to buy and sell, according to Schebesta. 

Bitcoin was found to be the most popular coin, with 65.2% of Australians owning some bitcoin, making it the fifth-highest share of all 22 countries surveyed. Ether came second, with 42.1% of Australians owning some. Other popular coins were Cardano (26.4%), Dogecoin (23%), and Binance coin (14.6%). 

Are Australians crypto bulls?

The Finder survey is anything but a surprise for those that have been following the Australian crypto scene for a while. Australian retail traders have been growing by astonishing figures in 2021 and 31% of Australia’s Generation Z owns some crypto, a figure that will only rise in the future. Finder is also far from the first analytics company to prove that Australia is actually a crypto-friendly country. Research from Kraken, a cryptocurrency exchange, found that 23% of Australians are interested in crypto because they are concerned that the value of money in traditional savings, or cash, is decreasing. Furthermore, 39% of Millennials found crypto to be a good alternative to buying property, a traditional investment darling of older generations.

According to Kraken MD Jonathon Miller, Australians still maintain some conservative attitudes toward investment. Although cultural norms prefer property as an investment, affordability makes it hard to attain, especially for younger people. Consequently, they turn to crypto to grow their wealth. He said that younger Australians were changing the dynamic of investments and expects the broader market to come around to it as well, once education catches up. Since the Asia-Pacific region was mobile-first, cryptocurrency adoption would come naturally to people from that region, according to Miller. 

Undoubtedly, more people have to be educated about the chances and risks of cryptocurrencies (which seems especially true for people holding public office). Still, the future of digital assets in Australia seems bright and more people are likely to diversify portfolios and seek investment opportunities outside of the mainstream. With cryptocurrency prices rising across the board, one can expect a constant influx of new investors. Australia would be well-advised to get ahead of that trend and shape technological adoption.