Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Raphael Auer
Author-X-Name-First: Raphael 
Author-X-Name-Last: Auer
Author-Name: David Tercero-Lucas
Author-X-Name-First: David 
Author-X-Name-Last: Tercero-Lucas
Title: Distrust or speculation? the socioeconomic drivers of U.S. cryptocurrency investments
Abstract: Employing representative data from the U.S. Survey of Consumer Payment Choice, we disprove the hypothesis that cryptocurrency investors are motivatedby distrust in fiat currencies or regulated finance. Compared with the general population, investors show no differences in their level of security concerns with either cash or commercial banking services. We find that cryptocurrency investors tend to be educated, young and digital natives. In recent years, a gap in ownership of cryptocurrencies across genders has emerged. We examine how investor characteristics vary across cryptocurrencies and show that owners of cryptocurrencies increasingly tend to hold their investment for longer periods.
Length: 52 pages
Creation-Date: 2021-07
File-URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/work951.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
File-Function: Full PDF document
File-URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/work951.htm
File-Format: text/html
Number: 951
Keywords: digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology, blockchain, payments, digitalisation, banking, household finance, money, bitcoin, ether, xrp, bitcoin cash, litecoin, stellar, eos
Classification-JEL: D14, D91, E42, G11, G12, G28, O33
Handle: RePEc:bis:biswps:951