Despite a slight decline in interest due to the recent bear run, Singapore’s sentiment and outlook towards cryptocurrency remains positive with 40% of Singaporeans owning digital assets, the 2022 Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) found.
Singapore scored 61 on the IRCI this year out of 100, down two points from the 63 recorded last year. Cryptocurrency ownership was also down, as the figure recorded last year among Singaporeans was 43%.
In terms of crypto holdings, the IRCI found that 76% of Singaporeans hold two or more different types of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin continues to be the most popular cryptocurrency for Singaporean crypto owners at 78%, while Ethereum — the second largest digital asset by market capitalisation, is held by 50% of the crypto owners.
The third most popular cryptocurrency is Dogecoin, held by 25% of Singaporean investors. This follows Elon Musk’s support for the memecoin, which has led to it gaining significant traction. Other altcoins, such as Solana, Avalanche, Algorand and Cardano are also rapidly increasing in market capitalisation and adoption, the IRCI noted.
Moving forward, 47% of Singapore investors plan to increase their investment in their cryptocurrency portfolio in the next 12 months. The continued intention to purchase is in light of 82% of the crypto owners having increased their wealth or broke even through their investments, while the remaining 12% reported a loss.
Aside from being optimistic, IRCI’s survey respondents are also bullish, with 70% of the respondents believing that bitcoin’s value would still increase and be worth more than $50,000 in 2030. Of this, 40% believes that bitcoin would be valued at more than $100,000 apiece.
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Bitcoin’s previous all-time high was recorded on November 10, 2021, when the coin reached US$69,044 apiece.
Raks Sondhi, managing director of Independent Reserve, Singapore says 2021 was a milestone year for the crypto industry in Singapore, with purposeful and proactive steps taken to ensure Singapore has tailor-made rules for the sector.
“Despite the new levels of regulatory rigour we have witnessed, it is encouraging to see that Singapore continues to actively embrace and advocate cryptocurrencies,” he adds.
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Currently in its second year, the IRCI is an annual survey of over 1,500 Singapore residents by independent consumer insights provider Toluna. It is a cross-sectional and unbiased sample of everyday Singapore residents, designed to represent the nation as a whole.
Photo: Bloomberg
