OSC survey follows up on Canadians’ crypto asset knowledge

TORONTO – The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) today released the results of a follow up survey that looked at investor knowledge and views on crypto assets. The 2023 survey found that Canadians’ crypto ownership has dropped 23% in the past year and interest in crypto is declining.

“Like crypto itself, a lot has changed in the past year regarding Canadians’ attitudes and intentions regarding crypto assets,” said Tyler Fleming, Director of the Investor Office at the OSC. “The results of our survey provide an important and timely understanding of how events over the past year in crypto have changed Canadians’ views and their investment choices.”

Compared to last year, crypto owners are more likely to regret buying crypto and to report that their assets are worth less than what they paid for them. About 10% of people surveyed this year owned crypto assets, a decline from 13% in 2022.

Canadians are now less likely to think crypto plays or will play a key role in the economy and are less likely to plan to buy crypto in the next 12 months. Few Canadians are confident that there will be a market to sell crypto assets in the future.

Survey results also showed crypto buyers had varied reasons for purchasing. The most common reasons to purchase crypto were to earn a higher return than with a savings account, as a speculative investment or gamble, or as a long-term investment based on belief in the technology. Riskiness, including the financial risk and associated volatility, a lack of government-backed guarantee, and the potential of being defrauded or hacked were reasons given for not purchasing. 

The online survey of 2,360 Canadians was conducted from May 16 to June 7, 2023.

Learn more about crypto assets at GetSmarterAboutCrypto.ca. All investments have some level of risk, and crypto assets are no different. Always check to see if the platform you plan to use is registered. The OSC has a regularly updated list of crypto asset trading platforms registered in Ontario.

To protect yourself from unqualified or fraudulent individuals trying to sell you an investment or give you investment advice, visit Check Before You Invest to search the Canadian Securities Administrators’ National Registration.

For more financial education resources, investors can visit GetSmarterAboutMoney.ca  or sign-up for the Investor News newsletter.

The mandate of the OSC is to provide protection to investors from unfair, improper or fraudulent practices, to foster fair, efficient and competitive capital markets and confidence in the capital markets, to foster capital formation, and to contribute to the stability of the financial system and the reduction of systemic risk. Investors are urged to check the registration of any persons or company offering an investment opportunity and to review the OSC investor materials available at http://www.osc.ca.

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