nited Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a consumer research survey report this month. The results are surprising. According to the survey, 73% of UK consumers are unaware of what cryptocurrencies are.

The main objective of this survey is to "gather more information about the cryptoassets market in the UK, to understand the behaviors and motivations among consumers purchasing cryptoassets and to identify areas of potential harm."

The survey, "Cryptoassets: Ownership and attitudes in the UK" was commissioned to research agency Kantar TNS. They conduct a quantitative survey via its CAPI Omnibus. Kantar TNS questioned 2,132 individuals from Britain and Northern Ireland face-to-face between December 12 - 16 in 2018 in several random and different locations.

Nearly three quarters of the individuals questioned can not define and haven't heard of cryptocurrencies.

The 27% who did know, were mainly composed of educated full-time employed men between the age of 20-44. They are also in the AB social grade category.

The trend seems to show those who live in the more urban areas tend to know more of cryptocurrencies. "On average 27% of UK consumers can identify what a "cryptocurrency" is."

Studies show people over the age of 55 were more likely to pick "traditional media." And most respondents between the age of 16 to 24 claimed "social media" as their answer. When it comes to purchasing, only 3% of the individuals surveyed has ever bought digital assets. 7% would consider investing in cryptocurrencies in the future.

Only 8% of those who have invested in cryptocurrencies thoroughly examined and studied the market before buying, while 50% of current Crypto investors only did minimal and general research on the web. 16% of investors did not conduct any sort of research at all.

84% of people who bought cryptocurrencies used an exchange service and 87% of them used their own money.

No one reported to have bought cryptocurrency using borrowed money from financial firms, friends, and family.

In the following section of the survey, over 50% of individuals holding digital assets bought Bitcoin (BTC). 34% dabbled with Ethereum, and 57% only chose one type of cryptocurrency to invest in.

Over 60% of people who bought Cryptocurrency cited the reason was either as a "gamble," or as "part of a wider investment portfolio".

18% expected to make money quickly, and 8% as a long term savings plan. A small amount of individuals (4%) bought simply because they "didn't want to miss out on buying."

For those who did not buy, the three top reasons were "lack of knowledge on how to buy cryptocurrencies,"(20%) "lack of knowledge on how cryptocurrencies work,"(23%) and "too risky to buy."(29%)

"Too risky" as the answer was mostly picked by men, while women mainly picked "lack of knowledge."

7% of the individuals questioned hope to buy and invest in cryptocurrency in the future. Full time employed male respondents between the age of 35 - 44 are more likely to purchase crypto-assets in the future.

40% of investors showed to have held onto their investments for 3 or more years. But when it comes to monitoring these assets, 35% reported to have never checked whether their cryptocurrency has gone up or down in value.

On the other hand, 22% of investors reported to check the status of their investments daily.

This study shows a majority of individuals who regrets not buying or investing in this market despite its risks. More than half believe in investing in something other than a regulated mainstream financial institution.

Not many investors (11%) regrets the purchase of digital assets, however, there is still a large group who thinks the market is too unstable at the moment.

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