The estimated number of global crypto users has passed 100 million - and boomers are now getting drawn to bitcoin too, reports find

The estimated number of global crypto users has passed 100 million - and boomers are now getting drawn to bitcoin too, reports find

Bitcoin is drawing in users from all age groups, according to one financial firm’s survey of clients NurPhoto/Getty Images

Around 106 million people are now using cryptocurrencies around the world, Crypto.com estimated in a report.

deVere Group said its clients aged 55 and above are increasingly drawn to tokens like bitcoin.

The bitcoin price has soared this year and was up around 68% to $49,260 on Thursday morning.

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More than 100 million people around the world are now using cryptocurrencies - and a growing number of baby boomers and Gen Xers are becoming interested in bitcoin and other tokens, according to two separate reports.

A report from exchange Crypto.com estimated that there were 106 million crypto users around the world in January, following a 16% jump in participants last month alone.

A separate survey from financial advisory group deVere found 70% of its clients aged over 55 had already invested in digital currencies, or were planning to do so, in 2021, despite bitcoin and others being strongly associated with younger, millennial investors.

Crypto.com’s report said the surge in the price of bitcoin and other digital tokens had been a key driver of the increased interest in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin touched an all-time high of more than $58,000 on Sunday, before tumbling briefly to $45,000 on Tuesday. Nonetheless, on Thursday morning the bitcoin (BTC) price was around 68% higher for the year at $49,260.

June and August in 2020 and January in 2021 were “exceptionally strong months” for increases in crypto users, according to Crypto.com research manager Kevin Wang.

“What we notice is that periods of strong growth come after periods of strong price performance in bitcoin.”

Crypto.com also cited a boom in Ethereum’s token ether and institutional cryptocurrency adoption by the likes of PayPal and MicroStrategy as driving interest.

Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group, said the firm’s internal poll of 688 clients showed that the recent boom in cryptocurrencies “has captured the attention of people around the world - and not just so-called digital native younger generations.”

Crypto.com’s figure of 106 million users was reached by analyzing data from the blockchains upon which cryptocurrencies are based, as well as data from surveys and exchanges.

The exchange said that a number of caveats applied to the research. They include difficulties in knowing whether on-chain users still own crypto and in capturing traders who do not transact, or use exchanges, which could mean the figure could vary in either direction.

Caveats also apply to deVere’s research, with an internal poll of clients unlikely to represent the baby boomer, or Gen X generations, as a whole.

Baby boomers are the generation born in roughly the 20 years after World War II, while Generation X is the generation born between roughly the early 1960s and early 1980s, according to common definitions.

$4.4B Liquidated From Crypto Exchanges As Bitcoin’s Market Cap Falls Under $1 Trillion

Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) – President Joe Biden said he’s directing his administration to address shortfalls in semiconductor production that have idled production at some auto plants as he signed an order to review U.S. supply chains.“We need to make sure that supply chains are secure and reliable,” Biden said Wednesday at the White House. “I’m directing senior officials in my administration to work with industrial leaders to identify solutions to this semiconductor shortfall.”Biden acknowledged the problem won’t be solved immediately. The issue has taken on urgency with a global chip shortage that’s threatening to harm U.S. growth just as Biden seeks to rebuild an economy battered by the coronavirus. Some automakers are cutting workers’ hours due to the shortfall and unions are raising alarm about the prospect of layoffs.Biden’s executive order seeks to end the country’s reliance on China and other adversaries for crucial goods. The administration’s 100-day review will cover chips along with large-capacity batteries, pharmaceuticals and critical minerals and strategic materials like rare earths.The order doesn’t directly call out China or any one country. Still, White House officials said an over-reliance on Beijing and other adversaries for critical goods is a key risk that must be addressed.Biden’s review could lead to financial incentives, tariffs or changes in procurement policies, among other options, said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The administration plans to consider ways to encourage production of key items in the U.S. or work with allies to manufacture the items, the official added.Biden met with a group of lawmakers from both parties at the White House Wednesday afternoon to discuss the semiconductor shortage, and ways to strengthen supply chains.Members of both parties praised the efforts of the president, who told the lawmakers he’d like to engage in regular such discussions.“It was refreshing to have a meeting that was truly bipartisan,” said GOP Representative Michael McCaul, who was among those meeting with the president. He said Biden is fully supportive of their efforts to fund semiconductor legislation, pledging to lawmakers “I want to back you, I’m all in,” McCaul said in an interview.Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he is asking the chamber’s top Democrats and Republicans to draw up legislation aimed at improving U.S. competitiveness with China in manufacturing and technology, including bolstering the supply of American-made semiconductors. He said lawmakers should consider “significant” emergency spending to rebuild U.S. semiconductor production capacity.Senator John Cornyn, who was among those meeting with Biden, told reporters that the topic of invoking the Defense Production Act to address the chip shortage came up in the Oval Office discussion.Biden’s top economic adviser, Brian Deese, last week sought the Taiwanese government’s help in resolving the chip situation. His appeal followed earlier pleas from Japanese and European officials for Taiwan’s assistance in ensuring supply.The Biden administration has also asked U.S. embassies around the world to identify how foreign countries and companies that produce chips can help address the global shortage and to map the steps taken to date.The shortages are tied largely to the pandemic. The stay-at-home era caused by the coronavirus pushed demand beyond levels projected by chipmakers. Lockdowns led to growth in sales of products such as laptops and home networking gear.The semiconductor industry has been pushing the president to include tax breaks and other financial incentives in his next legislative package to spur investment and research in the U.S. – an effort that will take months to move through Congress.Biden’s order directs industry-specific reviews focused on defense, public health and biological preparedness, information-communications technology, transportation, energy and food production. Those assessments, to be completed within one year, will be modeled after reviews the Defense Department uses to regularly evaluate the U.S. defense industrial base.Manufacturing more drugs and their raw materials within the U.S. could run into a years-long approval process to start production in new factories. It could also lead to an increase in emissions of ethylene oxide, a carcinogenic chemical used to sterilize glassware and vials.It’s unclear exactly how much pharmaceutical manufacturing is done overseas, because drugmakers don’t have to disclose where their goods are made. As of 2019, 72% of facilities that make active pharmaceutical ingredients for the U.S. market were located in other countries, according to the Food and Drug Administration.The Biden team will draw on lessons from the current crisis on chips and the shortage of personal protective equipment that plagued the U.S. last year, one of the officials said. Wednesday’s order is designed to help the U.S. address future crises before they occur, the official said.The order calls for reviewing supply chains every four years and directs the administration to consult with outside groups, including businesses, academia, unions and state and local governments, according to the White House.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

Crypto world: Cryptocurrencies pose unique challenges and need a judicious approach

In the flux after the 2008 financial crisis, an extraordinary instrument dubbed cryptocurrency was created. Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym used by the mysterious originator. It turned our understanding of currency on its head. Inspired by the philosophy of “self-sovereign identity” cryptocurrencies are an asset which are not anyone’s liability; neither is there a single authority or institution to maintain records. What we have are digital currencies designed for decentralised operations, cutting out a regulated intermediary like a bank.

Conventional money, or fiat currency, is issued by the state. It is usually the liability of a central bank such as RBI, which also oversees the recordkeeping of transactions. Its essential features are the credibility that comes from being guaranteed by the state, which leads to a central record keeper like RBI. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple are just the opposite. They are underpinned by a network called blockchain, run by anonymous computers linked together by a ledger of anonymised transactions. There are two potential issues that arise from cryptocurrencies. Will they supplant conventional currency, a state monopoly? Highly unlikely because inherent limitations of cryptocurrencies limit scalability and mass use.

A cryptocurrency like Bitcoin is also traded on exchanges, including in India, taking on the role of an asset. Here many governments, including India’s, have taken a dim view. Cryptocurrencies thrive on anonymity. They open the door to peer-to-peer transactions that circumvent state controls. FATF, the inter-government body that sets standards to combat money laundering and terror financing, worries about this instrument becoming a safe haven for illegal deals. Will a ban on cryptocurrencies solve the problem? It won’t because not only do they already exist, they are designed to bypass normal filters. It is a tricky issue which needs a well-thought approach.

Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email This piece appeared as an editorial opinion in the print edition of The Times of India.