Nearly Half Of Crypto Owners Made Their First Investment In 2021: Report

Nearly half of all current cryptocurrency owners in the United States, Latin America and the Asia Pacific first bought their digital assets in 2021, a new report released Monday said.

A report released by crypto platform Gemini found that 2021 was a transformative year for cryptos.

"41% of crypto owners surveyed globally purchased crypto for the first time in 2021. More than half of crypto owners in Brazil (51%), Hong Kong (51%), and India (54%) got started in 2021," the report said.

"Globally, 41% of respondents said they are crypto-curious. The crypto-curious are defined as consumers who do not currently own crypto, but are either interested in learning more or say they are likely to acquire cryptocurrency in the next year."

The report found that inflation could be one of the major reasons for this increasing crypto curiosity among the respondents. In the U.S., two in five (40%) crypto owners see crypto as a hedge against inflation.

Another important finding of the report indicated that the gender gap may be narrowing in the crypto sector.

"Among the crypto curious who plan to purchase crypto for the first time in the next year, 47% were women globally. Among crypto owners, women in developing nations led the way with women representing at least half of crypto owners in Israel (51%), Indonesia (51%), and Nigeria (50%)," it said.

Conversely, in developed countries and regions, only a third (33%) of current crypto owners are women, including in the United States (32%), Europe (33%), and Australia (27%), the report noted.

The findings of the report come even as governments globally are keeping a strict check on the industry. The report noted that regulation remains a key concern for the respondents in the crypto industry.

"Among non-owners, 39% in Asia Pacific, 37% in Latin America, and 36% in Europe say there is legal uncertainty around cryptocurrency. In addition, for 30% of respondents in the Middle East, 24% in Asia Pacific, and 23% in Latin America, the tax complexities of owning cryptocurrency have kept them from investing in crypto."