~6 in 10 Singapore Crypto Holders Allocate >5% Of Their Portfolio to Crypto: The State of Crypto SG Report

Aside from the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the biggest stories developing in 2021 is the growing interest in cryptocurrency and its earning potential in Singapore.

According to market intelligence platform Tracxn, about $3.02 million was invested into cryptocurrencies in Singapore in 2017.

There year later, this amount went up by 2,904% to $90.86 million in 2020.

Seeing the growing interest in cryptocurrencies, we decided to collaborate with Gemini and CoinMarketCap to conduct the State of Crypto in Singapore survey and delve deeper into what crypto holders and non-crypto holders in Singapore think about this asset class.

You can find the full survey here.

If you don’t have time to read the full 26-page report, I will be highlighting the valuable insights we have collected about people’s perception of cryptocurrency in Singapore.

Thus, by reading these insights, you can tap on the wisdom of the crowd and deepen your knowledge about cryptocurrencies!

Report Methodology

But before we dive into the report, here is how we conducted the survey with Gemini and CoinMarketCap and produced this State of Crypto in Singapore Report.

From 29 June 2021 to 9 July 2021, we surveyed a sample of 4,348 Singapore based adults, aged 18 to 65 with varying levels of household incomes from 29 June 2021 to 9 July 2021.

The sample was reflective of the demographic of Singapore-based adults who self-identify as having or being interested in personal finance and investment products.

Survey respondents can be broken down into 2,862 self-identifying current cryptocurrency holders and 1,486 consumers who might be interested to learn more or start investing in cryptocurrency.

All figures reported are in Singapore Dollars (SGD).

TL;DR: 6 Key Insights From The State of Crypto in Singapore Report:

• 67% of our survey respondents based in Singapore own crypto. Of these crypto holders, four in five are men.
• Women crypto holders are generally more conservative as almost half of them do not allocate more than 5% of their investment portfolio to cryptocurrencies. They also tend to earn more than male crypto holders.
• 64% of all surveyed crypto holders allocate more than 5% of their portfolio to crypto.
• 78% of all surveyed crypto holders own Ethereum (ETH).
• A majority (65%) of all the survey respondents got their crypto information fix from crypto bloggers and YouTubers.
• One in three non-crypto holding survey respondents cited that they plan to purchase their first cryptocurrency within the next 12 months.

1. Crypto Holders Are Mainly Men

To start things off, let’s took a look at the profile of the average crypto holder in Singapore.

For better or worse, men are still the majority (~80%) when it comes to owning cryptocurrencies. These cryptocurrency holders are quite young as well as 8 in 10 crypto holders are aged 34 and below.

For me, the findings are not surprising if you have read our article about why women are not taking charge of their finances:

Here are some of the key findings referenced in the article:

In a survey done by investment management company Merrill Lynch, 61% of the women mentioned they’d rather discuss details about their own death than talk about their money.

In addition, women cite lack of knowledge and confidence as their two biggest challenges to achieving financial stability.

According to UBS Global Wealth Management’s report, 8 in 10 Singaporean women leave major financial decisions to spouses.

Personally, I find that this a shame as I believe that everyone should be taking charge of their finances regardless of their gender.

More specifically, I hope that women understand that they may need to live out their retirement alone at some point in their life due to their longer life expectancy or for various reasons.

Thus, not taking charge of their finances will likely be a source of trouble for them at some point in the future.

2. Women Crypto Holders Are More Conservative and Tend To Earn More

Speaking of women, they make up 20% out of the 2,862 crypto holders who responded to the survey.

These female crypto holders are generally more conservative as almost half of them do not allocate more than 5% of their investment portfolio to cryptocurrencies.

Also, the women who hold cryptocurrency tend to earn more as well, with the median annual income of a female crypto holder falling within the $55,001 to $75,000 annual income bracket.

In comparison, the median income of a male crypto holder falls within the $45,001 to $55,000 annual income bracket.

I would also agree with the majority of female crypto holders about how much crypto you should allocate to your investment portfolio.

Due to their speculative nature, high volatility and risk of losing your capital, cryptocurrencies are still quite a high-risk high reward investment. 

Although you have a small chance of winning big by throwing your money into certain cryptocurrencies, there is a high chance of you losing most of your capital too.

This means that you should not be investing money you cannot afford to lose.

More specifically, losing this money should not cripple you financially or jeopardise your personal finance goals.

How much you say?

A study published by Yale economist Aleh Tsyvinski in August 2018 suggests that crypto enjoys higher potential returns than other asset classes like stocks, currencies, and precious metals.

The study added that optimally, investment portfolios should contain 6% bitcoin (BTC). Even if you are not too bullish about BTC, the study suggests you should allocate about 4% of your portfolio to it.

But if you are a hardcore cryptocurrency sceptic, you should consider investing about 1% of your assets into bitcoin to diversify your portfolio. 

Tim Enneking, managing director of Digital Capital Management has also stated that: 

Everyone should have 1-2% of their portfolio in crypto-assets and that enthusiasts can have up to 5-10%.

As such, you need to really do your due diligence and fully understand the risks of this asset class first before diving into it.

After all, your investment portfolio should be a reflection of your well-researched convictions and the amount of risk that you are willing to take.

The worse thing you can do is to blindly copy someone else’s portfolio and end up losing money without even knowing why.

A good place to start would be to develop an appreciation of the underlying technological innovation behind cryptocurrencies and a good understanding of the long-term risk and reward ratio of this asset class.

3. 64% Of Singapore Crypto Holders Allocate More Than 5% Of Their Portfolio to Crypto

When I came across this insight, the first thing that came to my mind is this saying:

Fortis fortuna adiuvat (Latin for fortune favours the brave).

I sincerely hope that our respondents have a good understanding of what they are getting into and that their crypto assets would ‘huat‘ (Hokkien for prospering).

As I have mentioned above, cryptocurrencies are not the safest of investments.

4. Ethereum is The Most Popular Cryptocurrency Amongst Crypto Holders

You might be wondering.

What cryptocurrencies do crypto holders in Singapore own?

Well, it turns out a majority (78%) of them hold Ethereum/Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain platform.

You can read more about Ethereum and other altcoins here:

5. Majority of The Respondents Get Their Crypto Information From YouTube and Social Media

Another interesting insight from the survey is that a majority (65%) of the respondents got their information about crypto from YouTube and crypto bloggers.

I reckon that is due to the digital-first nature of cryptocurrencies which makes it more natural for people to search for information about cryptocurrencies online.

Not to mention the first cryptocurrency (i.e. Bitcoin) was only created 12 years ago.

It makes sense that there won’t be many cryptocurrency books published and consumed by the public just yet.

6. 1 in 3 Non-Crypto Holders Plan to Buy Their First Cryptocurrency in The Next 12 Months

Last but not least, we would like to zoom in on the profile of Singapore’s non-crypto holders.

They make up 33% (1,486) of the 4,348 respondents who currently do not own any cryptocurrency.

Interestingly enough, 34% of the non-crypto holders plan to purchase their first cryptocurrency within the next 12 months.

If you fit that profile, I urge you to first read up more about it first.

I may be a bit biased but our Crypto Investment Guide is a good place to start:

Also, if you have done your own due diligence and want to jump right in and purchase your first cryptocurrency, crypto exchange Gemini is running a promotion from 16 August to 14 September 2021 where new Singapore users get to enjoy 7 days of fee-free trades.

You can find out more about this promotion here.