A recent survey shows that Turkey leads other European countries in cryptocurrency ownership as almost 20% of Turks own virtual currencies.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are slowly making inroads into mainstream adoption. However, only a small percentage of people engage in the cryptocurrency market at the current time. A surprising fact emerged recently as a study showed that Turkey handily beats other European countries when it comes to people owning cryptocurrency.

Bullish on Crypto

The crypto-focused survey was done by the statistics firm Ipsos on behalf of the ING Group. Overall, the survey sought out information on virtual currency ownership and attitudes of the citizens of 15 countries.

The countries surveyed were Australia, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Poland, Turkey, Germany, Romania, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, and the United States. The survey was done between March 26th and April 6th, and it had some interesting results.

The main fact that stood out was that the people of Turkey are really bullish on cryptocurrency. A full 18 percent of Turks actually own some form of cryptocurrency. This is double the European average of 9 percent.

A majority (53 percent) of Turks think that virtual currencies will become the dominant online payment method in the future. Despite all the ongoing FUD against Bitcoin and other coins, a full 51 percent of Turks think the value of cryptocurrencies will rise over the next year.

Other Countries Not Feeling It as Much

By contrast, other countries featured less enthusiasm for virtual currencies. Only 8 percent of Americans hold any form of cryptocurrency, while only 7 percent of Australians do.

Only 35 percent of people in other European countries thought virtual currencies would increase in value within the next year. In addition, only 25 percent of Europeans planned on investing in cryptocurrency, which is a marked contrast to the 45 percent found in Turkey.

It is interesting to note that all the countries agreed that crypto investment was riskier than traditional investments. It’s also amusing that only 8 percent of those surveyed trusted the advice of friends or family when it comes to investing in crypto.

It does make sense that people are a little leery of buying into cryptocurrency right now. Bitcoin has dropped by almost 70 percent from its all-time high back in December 2017. Some recent analysis concluded that the ongoing Bitcoin price pain would continue through the rest of the year. Of course, there’s another study that shows Bitcoin ownership could double in the future.

Are you surprised that Turkey is number one in cryptocurrency ownership in Europe? Let us know in the comments below.

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