The Bank of Canada published a report on Wednesday outlining Canadian crypto ownership trends last year.
Its Bitcoin Omnibus Survey found that Bitcoin (BTC) ownership across the country declined from 13% to 10% of the population in 2022.
The report noted that the ownership decline occurred on the back of Bitcoin’s massive price decline of over 50% throughout the year and increased regulatory scrutiny after FTX’s collapse in November. Altcoin ownership also decreased in 2022.
That said, ownership still remained elevated from the 8% level observed between 2018 and 2020.
For the past five years, awareness of the term Bitcoin has remained stable at roughly 90%, but recent adopters were more likely than early adopters to get involved for investment purposes.
“Similar to the results from previous years, ownership remains the highest among men, those between the ages of 18 and 34, university-educated, and those with a household income above $70,000,” the report read.
The report also claimed that in 2022, those with “high financial literacy” appeared to have left the market, while those with low financial literacy did not.
Those with incomes lower than $30,000 per year also had more holdings in 2022 than in 2021, bucking the trend among most investors.
To date, Canadians at large still report limited knowledge of how Bitcoin works. 61% of non-Bitcoin owners had low crypto literacy based on the bank’s methodology, while 30% of owners displayed high literacy.
A Bank of Canada survey published last year found investors with both low-level and high-level financial literacy were more likely to buy Bitcoin than average literacy investors.
Bank of Canada officials have previously scoffed at the idea of Bitcoin being an “inflation hedge,” as the nation’s Conservative leader has argued in the past.
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