70% of US crypto holders started investing in 2021: Report

The vast majority of cryptocurrency owners in the United States made the first-ever crypto investments just within last year, according to a new survey.

About 70% of crypto hodlers in the U.S. started investing in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in 2021, according to the Crypto Perception Report 2022 by Huobi Group, the operator of major crypto exchange Huobi.

The company polled about 3,100 U.S. adults in mid-December 2021 to assess respondents’ knowledge of crypto, what they think about the crypto market rise in 2021 and more.

The survey found 68% of respondents got their first crypto exposure within a year, while another 21% of those started investing in crypto up to two years ago. 12% of respondents made their first crypto investment within four years, while 9% began investing in crypto more than four years ago.

According to the survey’s findings, respondents did not invest too much in crypto though. 46% of pollees reported having $1,000 or less invested in cryptocurrencies. Another 25% said that they held between $1,000 and $10,000 worth of crypto.

The study also suggested that there’s still a lot of skepticism around the crypto industry, with 42% of respondents feeling it was too risky to invest in crypto. 34% of interviewees were also concerned about the lack of market regulations, while 24% of respondents noted that they didn’t have enough capital to invest in crypto.

Related: New survey reveals 83% of millennial millionaires now own crypto

Huobi Group global strategy director Jeff Mei said that 2021 was a big year for crypto thanks to the rise of sectors like decentralized finance and nonfungible tokens.

“However, we still have a long way to go before mainstream adoption will happen. Once more people take the time to understand the industry and there’s more clarity on global regulations, we can expect to see a spike in participation,” he said.