The Central Bank of Canada found out the number of Canadians who own bitcoin nearly doubled over the course of a year, according to the results of a newly-published survey.
Throughout the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS), the country’s central bank was looking to identify “the driving reasons for ownership during the sudden rise in Bitcoin prices” and understand “bitcoin’s potential impact on how the Bank of Canada undertakes its core functions,” according to the analytical document presenting survey results.
The bank, conducted a similar survey back in 2017, and this new analysis found that there was increased interest in bitcoin’s price over the year. The results show that ownership among Canadians rose from 2.9 to 5% and overall awareness of the cryptocurrency jumped up to 85%.
Also, results show a significant improvement in general understanding about bitcoin with the proportion of Canadians believing bitcoin is “government-backed” falling about 40% from the previous survey. Further, half of Canadians who own bitcoin do not use it to transact, but rather, hold the coins “as an investment”.
The timing of the survey is notable, given that December of last year saw the price of bitcoin went up to nearly $20,000.
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