The bearish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market has failed to deter most retail and institutional investors from investing in cryptocurrencies over the next 12 months, as concluded by SharesPost’s recent survey.
Investors Remain Long-Term Bullish
As noted in the “Mid-Year Cryptocurrency and Blockchain” survey by SharesPost, a private securities firm based in San Francisco, the majority of investors, including accredited and retail, are looking to buy more digital currencies in 2019.
The company surveyed over 2,400 retail investors and 528 accredited investors in July, with questions probing the market outlook on ICOs, ether and general investment plans.
Despite the 70 percent drop in digital assets at the time (more so for lesser-known altcoins), 59 percent of respondents stated they would allocate more personal capital to cryptocurrencies over the next year.
Rohit Kulkarni, managing director at SharesPost, believes the test results prove public interest in cryptocurrency investments, regardless of the regulatory sentiment toward the rising asset class.
Kulkarni added:
“Importantly, this survey indicates that this correction is separating long-term believers from short-term day traders. Investors remain bullish on Bitcoin [BTC] and Ethereum [ETH] over the next 18 months because they are the leading digital currencies globally.”
He also noted the limited correlation between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance products makes them an “ideal way” for portfolio diversification.
BTC: An Investor Favorite
BTC remains retail investors’ favorite digital asset for investments, with accredited investors tending to skew toward ETH and Ripple (XRP), according to the research. However, since the market correction in 2018, BTC has emerged as the prime preference for both groups.
Furthermore, investors believe BTC may prove to be a superior investment compared to ETH, primarily due to investor sentiment and lack of credible ICOs building on the Ethereum network.
Similar to PwC’s report in August, which noted 80 percent of companies are implementing blockchain technology, 49 percent of the retail investors surveyed confirmed a blockchain expansion at their workplaces, with the figure dropping to 32 percent for accredited investors.
However, support for implementing blockchain systems has grown by 12 percent since the start of 2018, indicating continued momentum for the disruptive technology.
Meanwhile, a greater number of investors believe cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology “may take longer” to go mainstream. Only 27 percent of accredited test-takers were positive about widespread adoption before 2020, compared to 51 percent in an earlier test. Thirty-seven percent of retail investors agreed with this view.
