A remarkable 82.81 percent of Chinese polled think buying cryptocurrencies is a trendy investment and 40 percent say they would like to invest in cryptos in the future despite the current bearish market, a survey by a local crypto news media PANews found.

The survey, claimed to be the largest of such kind in the industry, asked 4,980 Chinese about their familiarity and interest in cryptocurrencies during Nov.26 to Dec.10, and finally collected 4,200 valid questionnaires.

98.22% have heard of cryptocurrency

As per the survey, 98.22 percent of respondents have heard of at least one concept related to cryptocurrency or blockchain, with 50 percent saying they have heard of cryptocurrency, digital currency or bitcoin, and 42.3 percent saying they’ve heard of blockchain. While token is less known for them, only accounting for 22.2 percent.

Be more specific, among those who claim to have heard of blockchain, only 20 percent have some knowledge about the technology behind cryptos, with nearly half of them being post-90s. The result suggests that most of the respondents’ knowledge about blockchain still stagnates at a relatively surface level and that millennials, especially people born in 90s, are more educated about this nascent area.

14.24% have invested in cryptos

It is notable that more people heard of cryptocurrency than bitcoin. Partly because it is better known as an investment product. According to the survey result, 14.24 percent of the respondents have invested in cryptocurrencies, among which, investors with little knowledge of crypto and those who only know bitcoin account for 20.07%; nearly half of the remaining 80% know mainstream cryptos like ETH and EOS, and the rest half say they are also acquainted with altcoins.

The survey suggests that KOL (Key Opinion Leaders) play an important role in the spread of cryptocurrency, with 37.98 percent of respondents learning cryptocurrency from online celebrities and crypto community, 25.95 percent knowing it from friends and relatives, and the third major channel comes media report, taking up 19.54 percent of those polled.

Post-90s are the major players, 40% would like to invest in crypto

In the group of 598 respondents who have bought cryptos, 60.54 percent of respondents aged 19-28 are the major crypto investors, with most having averaged investable asset ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 yuan ($1,450-$14,500). A majority of these investors stepped into the crypto sector after the 2017 bull.

When asked what they would invest in the future if they have some money at disposable, 39.64 percent of the respondents said they would like to invest in cryptos, second to the number choosing property and stock investment. These people showing interest in investing cryptos said they were somewhat influenced by media reports on cryptos, especially those get-rich-overnight stories.

Amidst the prolonged bearish market, this result suggests a bright future for cryptocurrency.

That being said, 58.85 percent of respondents said they were scared off from buying cryptos by the complicated procedures when they encounter in wallet use and in crypto exchanges; besides, a rather high percentage of 63.43 percent don’t think they need cryptocurrency as a means of payment, giving the reason that mobile payment like Alipay, WeChat Pay and online banking is pervasive and convenient in the country. It indicates that the crypto preach featured by a P2P e-payment system may not work in China.