Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies in Our Lives: ForkLog Survey Results
In 2020, ForkLog’s annual survey “Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies in Our Lives” drew 1,815 participants from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the United States, and countries across Asia and Europe.
Key Takeaways
- 94.6% of ForkLog’s audience are men.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the most popular cryptocurrencies.
- In 2020, 72.3% of respondents reported a return on their investment portfolios.
- Survey participants prefer trading on the Binance exchange and generally trust centralized trading platforms.
- Half of respondents use a VPN.
- Uniswap is one of the most-used DeFi services.
Portrait of ForkLog Readers
The majority of ForkLog readers are between 26 and 35 years old, and they are predominantly men.
About 91.7% of our audience lives in Russia and nearby regions. The top five site visitors include residents of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Poland.
Forty-five percent of respondents report a middle income level, 30.7% low, 19.1% above average, and 5.2% high. A third can afford occasional trips abroad. A slightly smaller percentage did not travel outside their home country.
One in three respondents owns their own business. 28.9% of respondents are directly connected with the blockchain and cryptocurrency sector.
7.6% learned about cryptocurrencies in the early years of their existence. But the majority learned about them during the Bitcoin boom of 2016–2017.
Crypto Portfolio
Cryptocurrencies are held by the vast majority of respondents. Almost half of them bought digital assets during 2016–2017.
Fifty-seven percent plan to expand their investment portfolios, and one in ten is considering creating one. 72.3% of investors earned a return on cryptocurrency investments in 2020.
Bitcoin and Ethereum remain the leaders in popularity. DeFi tokens are gaining popularity.
Which cryptocurrencies do you hold?
Respondents are interested in long-term investing and earning from trading.
For what purposes do you use cryptocurrencies?
Anonymity and the Darknet
For 60.1% of respondents, digital assets provide a means to exercise the right to financial privacy. However, the use of anonymous cryptocurrencies is not fundamental to them.
The situation with mixing services is similar.
Half of the respondents — 51.7% — use VPNs. They prefer free services.
The Tor browser and the darknet are not particularly popular among respondents.
Mining and Staking
Nearly half of respondents have mined cryptocurrencies. Eight point three percent own a business in the field.
One in three has earned income from staking, using wallets and centralized exchanges for this purpose.
DeFi
Exactly a quarter of respondents invested in the DeFi sector. 59.4% abstained from investing due to a lack of knowledge about the technology and distrust of projects.
The most in-demand were DeFi tokens and yield farming.
Uniswap became one of the most-used DeFi services.
How did you invest in DeFi?
Which DeFi service do you use?
Trading
Trading cryptocurrencies is profitable for 43.1% of respondents.
Traders favour centralized venues. The share of DEX users is small.
The majority of respondents trade on Binance.
On which centralized exchanges do you trade?
22.7% of respondents have traded crypto derivatives. The survey shows that traders employ modest leverage — up to 25x.
Wallets
When storing cryptocurrencies, users prefer software wallets, for example Bitcoin Core. Non-custodial wallets, such as Blockchain.com and Electrum, remain prominent leaders.
Which wallet do you use?
Only 30% of respondents use hardware wallets. Popular ones include Ledger and Trezor.
Which hardware wallets do you use?
Investments
63.2% of respondents have never participated in ICOs or IEOs. Among ICO investors, 15.7% incurred losses and only 5.5% broke even. 14.2% managed to multiply their investments.
18.9% of respondents plan to invest in STOs in the future.
Media
The vast majority of respondents read the press daily.
However, their attention is gradually shifting toward Telegram and YouTube channels.
Which media channels do you prefer for up-to-date information?
In addition to ForkLog, respondents consult financial and economic media as well as broad-spectrum media. 17.8% of respondents get all the information they need about the cryptocurrency industry from ForkLog.
Which media, besides ForkLog, do you read?
The most-read sections of our site are News and Exclusives. The majority prefer to receive fresh information from Telegram channel @forklog.
What do you read on ForkLog?
25.5% of respondents are viewers of ForkLog’s YouTube channel. 34.8% read articles by ForkLog Hub residents.
