A study commissioned by the Ontario Securities Commission in Canada spotted some interesting trends inside the local cryptocurrency community that are also valid for other markets.
Titled “Taking Caution: Financial Consumers and the Cryptoasset Sector,” the study found that about half of the 10% of Ontarians that were involved in the cryptocurrency market have already sold all of their coins.
“About 1 in 10 Ontarians own or used to own cryptoassets, with 5 per cent reporting that they currently own cryptoassets, and 4 per cent reporting that they owned cryptoassets in the past. Based on recent estimates of Ontario’s adult population, this translates into over 500,000 Ontarians currently owning cryptoassets,” the government organization wrote.
In addition to these findings, the Ontario SC also noted that half of all crypto holders have dipped less than $1,000 into the market. A total 63% of these people own Bitcoin, with Ether taking second place at 35%.
We should, however, keep in mind that not everyone in the cryptocurrency-holding community is willing to readily reveal details about their investments to a government-led survey.
Here’s the kicker, though: Most crypto-holding Ontarians either used their cash savings or borrowed money on their credit cards to purchase their coins.
“Of those who used a credit card or otherwise borrowed money, more than 2 in 3 have paid back the money they borrowed in full,” the Ontario SC added.
It appears that borrowing on a credit card to make cryptocurrency purchases isn’t an exclusively Canadian phenomenon. A survey conducted at the beginning of this year by LendEDU revealed that 1 in 5 Americans used a credit card to purchase Bitcoin.
A more troubling trend, however, is the alarming amount of college and university students that were using financial aid money—meant to assist in tuition payments—to purchase cryptocurrencies. The Student Loan Report found that over 20% of them used such funds for that purpose.
One could only hope that they made a profit, at the very least.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
