Results from a recent Bank of America (BofA) survey show that consumers are still enthusiastic about crypto and digital currencies as a form of payment.
According to a report by CoinDesk, earlier this week, BofA released a report showing that consumer interest in crypto has managed to rise despite the market correction, with many of those surveyed indicating an intention to buy or use digital assets in the future.
The survey, which polled 1,000 existing and potential crypto users, found that 91% of respondents had the intention to purchase crypto in the next six months. Furthermore, the same percentage of respondents indicated that they had bought cryptoassets within the last six months. A full 30% indicated that they had no intention to sell their crypto within the next six months, with a similar number of respondents saying they had not sold any digital currencies in the previous six months.
The report indicates a growth in interest for digital currencies as a form of payment, with 39% of respondents saying they currently use crypto as payment for online purchases and 34% having used crypto for in-person transactions.
Of those surveyed, 65% reported having less than one-tenth of their investment portfolio in digital assets, with only 15% saying they held one-quarter of their investments in digital assets. The vast majority of respondents indicated that they were short-term investors in crypto, with 77% claiming to have held digital assets for less than one year.
However, BofA itself does not appear to be in a hurry to dive into crypto. Last month, Brian Moynihan, the Chairman and CEO of BofA, said that his company is not missing out by avoiding the crypto industry.
On May 25, during an interview at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos (Switzerland), Moynihan was asked by Biran Sozzi, anchor and editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance, whether he felt like his company was missing out on the “next big thing” by not being more aggressive in crypto.
Moynihan replied “no” before explaining that his bank is heavily regulated and prevented from making all-in moves on the crypto industry. He argued that it was more beneficial for BofA to focus on what it already does well, including being a bank and encouraging financial freedom.
He said:
“Our big thing is helping consumers in America have a successful financial life. Our life plans, financial planning tool— four or five million users— only started three years ago. That’s what you need to do, is get people to learn how to make their money work more for them to help in their lives.
Moynihan, a banking industry veteran, has been responsible for pushing a major transformation in digital banking during his time as CEO over the last 12 years.
As reported by Yahoo Finance, the World Economic Forum featured “heavy skepticism” towards digital currencies, despite the crypto industry’s robust appearance at the event. The report noted the forum was held in the midst of a market wide selloff for crypto, with Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd predicting that $BTC could fall as low as $8,000.
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