Special Issue: Ownership and purchase intention of crypto-assets: survey results

The paper employs surveys among Austrian households to study ownership and purchase intentions of crypto-assets. About 1.6 percent of Austrians own crypto-assets and about 5 percent can be viewed as potential adopters. Owners, on average, have higher financial knowledge and are more risk-tolerant than non-owners. Distrust in banks or in conventional currencies is not found to be an important driver of ownership. Intentions to adopt are strongly affected by profit expectations and by beliefs that crypto-assets offer advantages for payments – most adopters or potential adopters hold both beliefs. Perceptions of high volatility or the risk of fraud and online theft dampen the demand for crypto-assets.