According to a survey conducted by Japanese research institute Shin R25, a subsidiary of the publicly listed internet advertising company Cyber Agent, 14 percent of all young professionals in the Japan aged between 25-30 own cryptocurrency.

Japan is one of the most crypto friendly countries in the world, recognizing bitcoin as legal tender in April 2017. The nation is currently the biggest crypto market in the world, as according to CryptoCompare data the Japanese yen made up 52.8 percent of bitcoin’s trading volume in the last 24-hour period.

Crypto Investments

Shin R25 organized a countrywide survey to explore the percentage of virtual currency owners among employees in the 25-30 year old age group. The research organization used Macromill internet research to conduct the extensive survey.

The survey was conducted over the first quarter of 2018, and 4,734 individuals participated in it. Out of those surveyed 14 percent admitted to have invested in cryptocurrencies, with 25 percent of all participants were new to investments. On the other hand, 72 percent of participants had experience investing.

Although cryptocurrencies are legal tender in Japan, 92 percent of respondents revealed they bought them as an investment, hoping prices would surge so they could make a profit. Moreover, 37.4 percent invested “for the time being because it is a trend.” About 20 percent did so thanks to an acquaintance’s recommendation.

An Influx Of Japanese Investors

2017 was a great year for the crypto space, as various cryptocurrencies hit new all-time highs during the year’s last quarter. Unsurprisingly, many Japanese investors entered the market at the time.

The survey notes that 79 percent of respondents entered the crypto space in 2017. 25 percent of Japanese professionals who had never invested in virtual currencies did so in Q4 2017. About 15 percent of respondents started investing in early 2018, when cryptocurrencies started plummeting.

Participants revealed that they have invested less in digital currencies because of their volatile nature. Over one-third of them revealed to have invested less than $500, while only a few invested large sums.

Even with the crypto market’s wild price swings, 50 percent of participants intend to continue investing in cryptocurrencies, while 35 percent plan on stopping.