Bitcoin awareness, ownership and use: 2016–20

ABSTRACTABSTRACTSince 2016, the Bank of Canada has conducted annual surveys to monitor awareness, adoption and usage of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This report incorporates results from the 2019 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey and the November 2020 Cash Alternative Survey. We find that between 2018 and 2020, the level of Bitcoin awareness and ownership among Canadians remained stable: nearly 90% of the population were aware of Bitcoin, while only 5% owned it. We find that about half of Bitcoin owners stated they usually obtained their bitcoins through mobile or web exchanges, while one-fifth used mining. Bitcoin owners were susceptible to certain risks, as evidenced by the fact that about half of current and past owners stated they had been affected by events such as price crashes, losing access to funds, scams or data breaches. The most commonly cited reasons for owning Bitcoin were related to its use for investment or based on interest in the technology. Bitcoin owners displayed greater knowledge about the Bitcoin network than nonowners, yet they scored lower on questions testing financial literacy.KEYWORDS: Bank notesdigital currencies and fintecheconometrics, statistical methodsJEL CLASSIFICATION: E4C12. O5 AcknowledgementWe thank Ted Garanzotis, Alejandro Garcia, Chris Henry, Kim P. Huynh and Francisco Rivadeneyra for their helpful comments and suggestions, and Heng Chen for providing methodological guidance. We also thank Bank of Canada survey partners at Ipsos: Shelley Edwards and Lisa Canini. We are also grateful to Colette Stoeber and Alison Arnot for excellent editorial assistance.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.Data Availability StatementThe data used for this study consists of data from the 2016–2019 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS) and the November 2020 Cash Alternative Survey.Details on the 2016–2019 BTCOS are available in the following Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Papers: Henry, C. S., Huynh, K., & Nicholls, G. (2017). Bitcoin Awareness and Usage in Canada. Bank of Canada Staff Working Paper 2017-56.Henry, C. S., Huynh, K., & Nicholls, G. (2018). Bitcoin Awareness and Usage in Canada: An Update (No. 2018-23). Bank of Canada Staff Analytical Note 2018-23.Henry, C. S., Huynh, K. P., Nicholls, G., & Nicholson, M. W. (2019). 2018 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey: Awareness and Usage. Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2019-10.Balutel, D., Felt, M. H., Nicholls, G., & Voia, M. (2022). Bitcoin Awareness, Ownership and Use: 2016–20. Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2022-10.Details on the 2020 Cash Alternative Survey Wave X are contained in:Chen, H., Engert, W., Felt, M. H., Huynh, K., Nicholls, G., O'Habib, D., & Zhu, J. (2021). Cash and COVID-19: The impact of the second wave in Canada. Bank of Canada Staff Discussion Paper 2021-12.All papers released in the Bank of Canada Discussion Paper Series have an associated Metadata Repository which contains the raw data files and the associated computer programs to generate the data. Requests to access this data set can be directed to Ted Garanzotis, Senior Research Director, Currency Department, email tgaranzotis@bank-banque-canada.ca.