Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 20, 2025

About 2.3m Britons hold cryptocurrencies

About 2.3m Britons hold cryptocurrencies

FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) says the digital assets appear to have become more normalised and viewed less as a gamble.
The number of UK adults who hold cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin has risen to an estimated 2.3 million, despite warnings from regulators and the head of the Bank of England that people should be prepared to lose all their money.

The typical profile of buyers of cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin was ‘largely male, over 35 and in the AB social grade’, said the FCA.

Research by the Financial Conduct Authority also revealed that almost 20% of buyers said they were driven by a fear of missing out, while one in seven were going into the red to finance their cryptocurrency purchases.

The median holding has risen from £260 a year ago to £300, though the highest holding reported by a respondent was £7m. Meanwhile, the typical profile of investors was “largely male, over 35 and [in the] AB social grade”, said the FCA.

Amid evidence that a new breed of mainly younger DIY investors are putting their money into the likes of bitcoin, ethereum and Ripple, the FCA conducted detailed research in January which concluded that cryptocurrencies “appear to have become more normalised”, with fewer of those investing regarding them as a gamble, and more as a legitimate alternative asset.

Looking at the main reasons people gave for putting money into bitcoin and other products, 18% responded: “I don’t want to miss out on buying cryptocurrencies.”

While most people said they paid for their cryptocurrency using their own disposable income or cash, 14% said they had turned to some form of borrowing – either a credit card, bank overdraft or loan from friends, family or a financial firm.

Laith Khalaf, a financial analyst at investment firm AJ Bell, said the fact buyers had borrowed to buy cryptocurrency “is simply terrifying”.

He added: “FOMO [fear of missing out] … is never a good motivation for financial decisions. Buying cryptocurrency is a dangerous financial activity, and while many consumers appear to understand the risks, some are carelessly playing with fire.”

The 2.3 million people who are estimated to own cryptocurrency equates to about 4.4% of UK adults, and is up more than a fifth on a year ago, when the figure was 1.9 million.

The FCA research found that “enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies as a product is growing among crypto users”, and that two in three (66%) of owners said they had enjoyed a positive return on their investment, with 11% reporting a loss.

But it also found that while the sector’s profile had increased, “the overall level of understanding has fallen”.

The research comes in the wake of a surge of interest in bitcoin and other digital currencies, fuelled by prices hitting record highs, tweets from high-profile figures such as the Tesla chief executive, Elon Musk, and posts from influencers on sites such as Instagram and TikTok.

Some institutional investors and traditional financial services firms have made moves into the sector, though there have been a series of warnings from senior figures that the extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies means investors could face a wipeout.

Andrew Bailey, the governor of the Bank of England, said earlier this year that bitcoin had “no intrinsic value at all”, adding: “I’ve said a number of times: ‘Only buy bitcoin if you’re prepared to lose all your money’.”

Regulators at the European Central Bank have compared bitcoin’s meteoric rise to other financial bubbles such as “tulip mania” and the South Sea Bubble, while the FCA said putting money into cryptocurrencies “is high-risk … investors should be prepared to lose all their money”.

Two-thirds of cryptocurrency owners hold bitcoin, while the next most popular were ethereum (35%), Litecoin (21%) and Ripple (18%), according to the FCA research.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
×