Why haven’t more Canadians bought cryptocurrency?

Interestingly, the majority of men said they hadn’t bought cryptocurrency because it was too high risk, with 42.06% of men citing this reason. Women didn’t weigh this rationale as highly, with only 27.36% of women giving the same reason.

The majority of women said they hadn’t bought cryptocurrency because they didn’t know what it is – which could speak to a broader gender gap in the tech and digital space. Only 18.45% of men gave this rationale, which isn’t surprising considering cryptocurrency – like most digital industries – is a male dominated industry. Other reasons women cited were a lack of interest (33.37%), thinking it’s too complicated to understand (27.90%), or that they didn’t have enough money (16.42%).

Only a small portion of both genders said fees were the main reason they hadn’t bought cryptocurrency, with 2.9% of women and 5.29% of men citing this reason.

All three generations that were analysed cited the same top three reasons for not purchasing, namely: finding it too complicated to understand, not knowing what it is, and thinking it’s too high risk. However, the reasons varied in significance across the board.

Surprisingly, for a generation that grew up with technology, the study found that the main reason millennials haven’t purchased cryptocurrency is because it’s too complicated to understand, with 31.49% of millennials choosing this as their reason for not purchasing. This was followed by those who don’t know what it is and those think it’s too high risk, with 30.80% of millennials citing each of these reasons as their reason for not having purchased.

People from the Gen X generation believe cryptocurrency is too high risk, with 34.39% of Gen Xers citing this is as the main reason they haven’t yet purchased. This is followed by those who don’t know what it is (27.88%) and those who simply aren’t interested (27.88%).

Baby boomers said their main reason for not having purchased was because they weren’t interested (42.51%), followed by thinking it’s too high risk (34.57%) and thinking it’s too complicated to understand (26.25%).

A similar study was conducted in the United States in February 2018, which found that only 7.95% of Americans had purchased cryptocurrency – that’s 8.6% less than the proportion of Canadians who own cryptocurrency, at 16.55%.

In the US study, men were more than twice as likely to own cryptocurrency, with 11.86% of American men owning cryptocurrency compared to just 4.27% of American women. While there was also a gender disparity in the Canadian market, the difference was not as stark as the US, with 19.45% of Canadian men having purchased compared to 14.10% of Canadian women – a difference of just 5.30%.

In terms of generation, the US study demonstrated a similar spread of crypto owners, with millennials the most likely to own cryptocurrency, representing 11.52% of all crypto owners. This was followed by Gen Xer’s at 10.30% and baby boomers at 3.81%.

Thinking about purchasing cryptocurrency, but just haven’t made the plunge? You’re not alone – 83.45% of Canadian adults have not purchased cryptocurrency.

If you’re interested in cryptocurrency but find that it’s too complicated to understand, read our guide to cryptocurrency containing key terms, providers and players in the crypto world.