Cryptocurrency adoption in Russia has not been so fast, as the vast majority of Russians seem to have never bought any cryptocurrency, according to a new survey.
Switzerland-based cryptocurrency wallet provider Tangem conducted an online survey in July to learn more about cryptocurrency investors in Russia.
As many as 72% of the 2,100 respondents claim that they have never bought cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), leaving Russian crypto investors in the minority.
Among cryptocurrency investors, only 5% of respondents said they stopped buying after their first cryptocurrency purchase. Another 23% indicated that they continued to buy cryptocurrencies, on average, on a monthly basis.
Source: Tangem
At the same time, only 9% of the survey respondents indicated that they were negative towards cryptocurrencies while 45% of the respondents said they had a positive attitude towards digital currencies, while the remaining 46% were neutral.
According to the survey, “earning ability” was the most important positive thing in crypto investments, with 44% of respondents choosing to invest in cryptocurrency due to this factor. On the other hand, “lack of material support” was cited as the biggest concern, with 68% of respondents saying they did not want to buy cryptocurrency for this reason.
Although the vast majority of Russians seem to be unfamiliar with cryptocurrency investments, many are considering this possibility. Thirty-one percent of respondents indicated that they would be willing to buy cryptocurrency in the next six months, while 40% said they were still unsure of any potential crypto investments. Only 30% of respondents said they did not plan to make any cryptocurrency purchases in the near future.
The low cryptocurrency adoption rate in Russia is in line with the low levels of crypto awareness and education. According to Tangem’s data, only 6% of respondents were found to have a good knowledge of cryptocurrencies, while 80% were only familiar with the term.
According to estimates by InDeFi CEO Sergey Mendeleev, the number of active and passive crypto users in Russia is currently less than 1% of the total population of 144.4 million. He said this is likely due to the absence of legal methods for buying or selling cryptocurrencies in Russia as well as the risk of banks blocking the funds.
Related: Pro-Russian Groups Collect Only 4% of Crypto Donations Sent to Ukraine
On the other hand, some experts believe that Russians are turning to cryptocurrency due to the restrictions imposed on foreign currencies by the Bank of Russia. TerraCrypto founder Nikita Vasev reportedly said that many Russians take money from the country using stablecoins and bitcoin and then cash it in countries like Georgia or the United Arab Emirates.
Earlier this year, the Kremlin estimated that Russians would own $200 billion worth of cryptocurrency by late 2021. Another survey last year indicated that 77% of Russian investors preferred bitcoin to gold and forex.
