Nearly eight in ten Russians believe Bitcoin (BTC) is the “most dependable” cryptocurrency in circulation. And over a third of respondents indicated they have used crypto “at least once.”
As reported by Kommersant and VC, these were the findings of a poll performed by the Russian cryptocurrency exchange Bitbanker and the researcher Cupli Surveys. The parties addressed 1,500 individuals older than 18 “from all areas of Russia.”
While 78% of respondents felt that Bitcoin was a trustworthy token, 36% expressed the same for Tether (USDT). And 35% of respondents said that Ethereum (ETH) was reliable.
While 29% of respondents claimed that they have “used cryptocurrencies at least once,” the majority (51%) of this group stated that they purchased bitcoin to protect their funds. The majority of the remaining individuals responded that they wanted to gain money via cryptocurrency trading.
However, over one-third of individuals with crypto-related expertise reported using tokens to “transfer money to other people.”
Perhaps surprisingly, 26% of respondents indicated they used crypto to “pay for products and services” despite the fact that the use of crypto as a payment instrument is illegal in Russia.
There are signs that within the subset of Russians that use cryptography, a significant proportion is sophisticated users. “The majority of respondents reported using several wallets,” the study stated. And 14% of the participants reported storing their currencies in cold storage as opposed to exchanging wallets.
While the great majority of respondents claimed their cryptocurrency holdings were small, almost 10% stated they had between $7,000 and $14,000. And 2.3% of respondents stated their cryptocurrency assets were worth more than $14,000.
A Russian government official warned earlier this month that domestic cryptocurrency miners are now being regulated by electrical companies and are required to pay industrial prices for energy. The legalisation of the industrial mining industry might yet be enacted before the end of the year.
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