Russian citizens own more crypto than gold or mutual funds – survey

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(Kitco News) – As Russian citizens try to navigate a global financial market that has become increasingly hostile due to sanctions imposed on the country for its invasion of Ukraine, a new study shows that they are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies as their preferred stock.

According to the results of the “Nationwide Survey of Consumer Finance Households” conducted by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Russian families now hold more value in crypto-assets than mutual funds or gold, showing the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies as the world slowly moves towards widespread digitization .

The survey, which has been conducted every two years since 2013, covered more than 6,000 households and over 12,000 individuals in 38 regions across Russia. The report included data collected from April to August 2022 and compared it with figures from a similar study in 2020.

The results showed that Russian households had an average average value of 17,500 rubles (~$225) of crypto assets, with more than half of families reporting holdings that exceeded the survey’s reporting threshold.

More than 65% of surveyed households indicated that they had financial assets of some kind, with a median value of 15,700 rubles ($200). In addition, 64.5% of these households also had savings in a bank, with an average of 15,000 rubles.

Breaking down the statistics further, the results show that 0.4% of surveyed households indicated that they hold Bitcoin and/or other cryptocurrencies. Although this number is small compared to the total population, crypto holdings actually surpassed gold and mutual funds, which each registered a 0.3% adoption rate in the Russian population.

This means that the average household had just over $40 in gold and other precious metals or in mutual funds.

Stocks and bonds enjoy the highest level of adoption with approximately 1.6% of Russian households holding such assets, with an average of 26,500 rubles. And 1.2% of respondents indicated that they have an electronic wallet worth an average of 1000 rubles.

The findings of this study appear to contradict previous government estimates on crypto, which put Russian adoption at 12% of the population. Data provided by Singapore-based research firm TripleA indicates that the level of crypto adoption in Russia is 5.875 as of April 5.

Russia has seen an increase in its activities related to cryptocurrency since the start of the war in Ukraine as the nascent asset class provides a solution to sanctions, which included Russian banks being cut off from the SWIFT system.

While the CBR has repeatedly expressed its disapproval of “private cryptocurrencies” such as Bitcoin, in September it began allowing them to be used by companies and individuals to settle cross-border transactions after Russian banks were cut off from their foreign counterparts.

Russian lawmakers are currently working on plans to launch a national crypto exchange by the end of the second quarter. They are in talks with lawmakers in Iran to develop a gold-backed stablecoin that would be used as a means of payment in foreign trade settlements instead of the dollar, the Russian ruble or the Iranian rial.