Marc Serafino
Since the start of 2017, the price of Bitcoin went from $997 to $8,000, prompting many to ponder when will the cryptocurrency hit its peak. Heck, we have an article arguing that it will hit $5,000 by the end of 2017 — which these days sounds ridiculous.
Anyhow, LendEDU has recently commissioned a poll of 564 Americans who have invested in Bitcoin with the goal to test the current sentiment and future expectations of a specific sub-section: Bitcoin investors. And needless to say, they came up with interesting findings. Read on to find out…
1. Why are your investing in Bitcoin?
The first question in the poll wanted to find out why consumers are actually investing in Bitcoin. Interestingly enough, the answer “I believe Bitcoin is a world changing technology” was chosen by 40.78 percent of respondents.
The second most popular answer, chosen by 21.81 percent of respondents, was for the possibility of long term storage of value. So it’s not surprising that many people — ourselves included — compare Bitcoin to gold.
The third most popular answer, selected by 15.25 percent of Bitcoin investors, said the primary reason for investing was due to a “friend, family member, or another trustworthy source” convincing him or her to do so.
Finally, 8.16 percent of respondents answered “I plan on using Bitcoin for transactions or purchases, and less of an investment.”
2. What is the current value ($) of your Bitcoin investment?
On average, respondents reported that the current value of their Bitcoin investment was $2,930.85. For what it matters, at the time of the survey completion – the price per Bitcoin was $6,490.
3. How long will you hold onto your Bitcoins?
Most investors in the survey, 39.54 percent, are planning to hold their Bitcoin investments for “1 to 3 years.”
The second most popular answer was “4 to 6 years” (22.34%), followed by “less than 1 year” (16.49%), “over 10 years” (11.70%), and “7 to 10 years” (9.93%).
4. Do you routinely worry about the technological security of your Bitcoin investment?
Responses to this question were almost equally divided, with 44.15 percent of respondents answering “Yes” and the remaining 55.85 percent answering “No.”
I guess it’s the tech savvier people who are not worried, but as Bitcoin gains popularity among more users, some of them may fear of not having the skills to keep up with hackers.
5. Have you sold some or all of your Bitcoin investment since investing?
In the fifth question, LendEDU wanted to see if current Bitcoin investors have taken money off the table.
At the inception of polling, the price of Bitcoin was trading at all-time highs. However, that hasn’t stopped the majority of respondents (67.38%) to answer “no.”
On the other hand, about a third (32.62%) of respondents have sold some of their Bitcoin since investing.
6. Have you reported transactions to the IRS?
According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), “virtual currency is treated as property for U.S. federal tax purposes. General tax principles that apply to property transactions apply to transactions using virtual currency.”
Guess that Bitcoin investors know that since 64.13 percent of them answered “Yes, I plan on reporting gain or loss on my tax return,” while the remaining 35.87 percent answered “No, I do not plan on reporting gain or loss on my tax return.”
7. At what price would you sell your Bitcoins?
The last and arguably the most interesting question was “At what price would you be willing to sell all of your Bitcoin investment?” The survey has found that the average Bitcoin investor would be willing to sell all of his or her Bitcoin investment at a price per Bitcoin of $196,165.78, which is roughly 30 times the price of Bitcoin at the time when the survey was taken (when it was trading at $6,490).
So yes, it seems that most Bitcoin investors are in this for the long haul.
Methodology
In case you wonder, LendEDU commissioned the poll from Pollfish. It included 564 American consumers ages 18 and up, who were screened with multiple screener questions. The poll was conducted over a five-day span from November 9th, 2017 to November 13th, 2017.
Also as a disclaimer, LendEDU added that as of 11/14/17, none of its editorial team employees owns Bitcoin.
