Cryptocurrency Ownership in the UK

It is estimated that 4.2million people in the United Kingdom, or 6.2% of the country’s total population, are now cryptocurrency owners. Making up less than 10% of the public, what does the average crypto owner in Britain look like? BanklessTimes.com investigates…

According to a recent survey, most of the United Kingdom’s cryptocurrency owners fall into the 18-34 age brackets (56%). Only 4.6% of them are aged 55 or above, which indicates that cryptocurrency is largely owned by Millennials and Generation Z.

Breaking down cryptocurrency ownership by income levels, we see that it is markedly higher amongst wealthy Britons. 40% have income levels over £200,000, while 18% have income levels ranging between £100,000 and £200,000. However, what is more unusual about the results is that those with an income of less than £7,000 are 16% more likely to own cryptocurrency than those in the £10,000 to £39,000 bracket.

As the original crypto, Bitcoin continues to remain the most popular choice for owners in the United Kingdom. 62% of those who reported owning cryptocurrency possessed Bitcoin, although Ethereum followed in second place with the cryptocurrency’s wide application cases, followed by Ripple (XRP), Tether (USDT) and other Altcoins.

Bitcoin is incredibly straightforward to use and we’ve recently seen it become increasingly mainstream, with several large companies either beginning to accept Bitcoin as a payment on their website or indirectly selling gift cards through cryptocurrency platforms. This recent surge in popularity has made it ever easier for those in the United Kingdom to spend their Bitcoins, and in turn customers appreciate the currency as they benefit from lower transaction fees and increased levels of security on their online orders

Jonathan Merry, CEO of BanklessTimes.com

It isn’t just spending Bitcoin that has become easier in recent years; it has become easier to purchase Bitcoin too. Statistics show that Paypal is popular in the UK. Since PayPal’s announcement in 2021, it has been possible to buy bitcoin with PayPal in the UK.

Cryptocurrency is well on its way to becoming a conventional form of currency rather than an investment, and with more than 52% of owners actively spending their crypto, and 60% spending more than £100 a month, and 26% exceeding £1,000 a month. While cryptocurrency use is still rare offline, cryptocurrency payments are eagerly anticipated in retail, particularly in entertainment – the largest projected sub-sector at 42%.

So what does the future hold for cryptocurrency in the United Kingdom? With 70.22% of non-crypto owners admitting they haven’t invested because they don’t know enough about it, we at Bankless Times would like to see the British public become better educated on cryptocurrency. Making more people aware of the benefits is the key to unlocking the growth of cryptocurrency on a larger scale.