A comprehensive study by ING Bank found that global interest in crypto investments will soon double.

The study comes at a time when cryptocurrency prices have reached their lowest level since the beginning of the year, raising concerns about mass adoption, scalability and regulation of anxiety, insecurity and doubts across the ecosystem.

The study, which has been carried out over a large geographical area, namely Austria, Australia, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States, presents global picture of how people rate cryptocurrencies.

The core finding of the study was that the number of people planning to buy cryptocurrencies in the future is twice the number of people who already own cryptocurrencies. 9% of all Europeans already have cryptocurrencies, while 25% plan to buy cryptocurrencies in the future. Similarly, 8% of respondents in the US had made a purchase, compared to 21% who expected it in the future. Surprisingly, Turkey emerged as the country with the highest number of cryptocurrency holders — 18% of respondents already had cryptocurrency and 45% planned to invest in the future.

The results of the study are extremely positive for cryptocurrencies as they show a large number of future investors and possibly even emerging mass adoption.

The study also identified some important differences in the demographic makeup of investors. Overall, 77% of men had heard of cryptocurrencies, compared to only 51% of women. Age was also a key factor, with respondents 65 and over having the least awareness of digital currencies and blockchain technology.

Despite the negative atmosphere in the cryptocurrency communities, the study shows that interest and awareness of the technology is growing in the global population. With developers making significant headway on crucial issues, the now-day-to-day news of large companies entering the industry, as well as regulators giving the green light, the future of cryptocurrency does indeed look promising. With so much positivity surrounding this emerging technology, it remains to be seen how long the bears will be able to keep the crypto prices under pressure and the market shrinking.