CANADA (Commonwealth Union)_ The Bank of Canada released its Financial System Review on October 12, 2022, outlining several significant aspects of the ecosystem for digital assets. Large price corrections are the most frequent incidence recorded by owners of crypto assets, according to a blog article by Daniela Balutel, Walter Engert, Christopher Henry, Kim Huynh, and Marcel Voia that explicitly discusses the crypto asset industry and markets in general.
The Bank of Canada’s blog post says that the five researchers also noted that “bitcoin ownership among Canadians climbed dramatically in 2021”, rising from 5% in 2018–20 to 13% in that year. This rise came after substantial rises in Canadians’ wealth and savings during the pandemic.
The majority of Canadians have heard the term “bitcoin”, according to past research and this year’s Financial System Review, although understanding levels vary. Despite this, Canada’s central bank discovered that in 2021, forty per cent of bitcoin owners demonstrated “a low level of bitcoin awareness”, which amounted to a larger percentage compared to previous years, according to the report.
Out of four factors, including a lack of trust in the government, an investment vehicle, an interest in cutting-edge technology, and a payment mechanism, the investment vehicle factor accounted for the majority of BTC ownership.
Additionally, 25% of cryptocurrency owners reported losing money in 2021 owing to significant price swings, an increase of 18% from 2019. 9% of users have experienced transaction problems, 11% have lost full control of their cryptocurrency wallet, and 7% have reported having their crypto assets stolen.
The Bank of Canada also learned that the majority of Canadian bitcoin owners only possess minuscule fractions of the total supply. Seventy per cent of Canadian bitcoin owners possessed less than CAD$5K in value, while the median amount was less than CAD$500.
