Almost one in three Canadians have invested in digital assets, according to a study by fintech startup Hardbacon. However, most citizens are worried about their investment in cryptocurrency, as only 5% of them consider it a safe tool.
So, 28% of respondents answered that they have already purchased digital assets. Despite the high percentage, most Canadian residents do not consider investing in virtual currencies a safe strategy. 21% believe buying stocks is safer, and 65% believe government bonds are the safest option.
Interestingly, investing in so-called meme stocks Cineplex, AMC and GameStop is a growing trend among Canadians, as 13.3% of participants said they diversified their portfolio with them. This behavior has been demonstrated by investors aged 25 to 44.
However, Hardbacon believes that buying these shares can be quite risky, as their prices are often fueled by social media and therefore can be very volatile.
Another study found that residents of the second largest country by land area significantly increased interest in digital assets in the past year.
According to the data, over the past 12 months, 20,783 out of 100,000 Canadians have googled the word «cryptocurrency». While this figure may sound small, it reflects a 213% increase in interest over the year. The United States, considered the most crypto-friendly country, lags behind with 14,796 similar queries in the world’s largest search engine.
It should be noted that in Canada there is a large number of cryptocurrency ATMs – 1464, according to this indicator, the country is second only to the United States. It turns out that there is one cryptomat for every 26,265 people. Given the sheer size of the country, there is one such device for every 2.633 square miles.