One in ten European families has invested in digital currencies such as bitcoin, according to a study by the European Central Bank and published on Tuesday.
This indicates strong appetite for high-risk investments, which this month are faced with a significant drop in prices.
The study, conducted by the European Central Bank in six major countries-Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands-showed that “around 10 per cent of households own digital currencies ”In the euro zone.
The percentage varies according to the countries included in the study, between 6% in France, 9% in Germany and around 15% in the Netherlands.
“On average, investors (in crypto) are young, male, and highly educated,” the report said.
This study, which is included in the half-annual report on financial stability to be published on Wednesday, comes as the European Central Bank calls for global regulation of this modern sector, which poses a threat to financial work of families in particular. .
The report added that the total size of the digital currency market will reach more than 2.5 trillion euros “by the end of 2021” and remains “seven times larger than at the beginning of 2020” despite the recent fall in its prices.
Today, there are more than 16,000 cryptocurrencies in circulation, with an average of ten new collections released daily, according to the study.
These new assets attract people, even from the lower classes of society, but “they are worthless” and “they are not a safe investment”, the president of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, warned on Sunday.
Source: AFP
Source: Arabic RT
