The largest ever survey of Bitcoin users in Australia has revealed where, when and why Australians are joining the cryptocurrency revolution. The survey by Bitcoin.com.au, Australia’s #1 Bitcoin retail exchange, found — perhaps unsurprisingly — that the vast majority of Bitcoin users are male: 86% identified as male, while only 10% identified as female, with 4% choosing to remain anonymous. The leading age group is that of 25 to 34-year-olds, with the 18 to 24 and 35 to 44 age brackets not too far behind.
Bitcoin users tend to call Australia’s more populated states (New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland) home, with the rest of Australia’s states and territories heavily underrepresented.
Though Bitcoin’s original selling point (and the reason for its cult-like following) is its revolutionary lack of central authority, global acceptance, next-to-nothing fees and fast, anonymous transactions, it seems most buyers in Australia are capitalising on Bitcoin’s insane growth (over 60,000% in 7 years, or from a few cents to over $8,000 since 2010), buying Bitcoins as an investment strategy, rather than a form of payment.
Bitcoin is by far Australia’s most popular cryptocurrency, yet 17% of Bitcoin users are also investing in Ethereum, the most popular cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, and a small amount are venturing into currencies like Litecoin, Dash and Monero. The vast majority of Bitcoin users (69%) own less than one Bitcoin, which is easy to understand given Bitcoin’s current valuation.
As Bitcoin becomes more established and the number of Bitcoin transactions growing every day across the globe, it remains to be seen if other Australian states will follow suit and what the future holds.