3 in 5 S’poreans say they’re likely to buy cryptocurrency, but may not understand it, making them possible targets for scammers

SINGAPORE: A report from international consultancy C|T Group shows that three out of five Singaporeans will likely invest in cryptocurrency in the next few years. Over half of the individuals who participated in the study said they own or had once owned cryptocurrency.

However, the understanding of cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology is not high among those surveyed. When asked, “How confidently do you think you would be able to explain” these, more than two-fifths, or 42 per cent—said they’re ‘not at all’ confident explaining these terms.

C|T Group, which recently opened a branch in Singapore, published a report entitled “What Singaporeans Think About Cryptocurrency,” based on data gathered from surveys conducted in both English and Mandarin earlier this month of over 1,000 Singaporeans from the age of 18 and over representing the population by age, gender, location and ethnic group.

“One big takeaway is that Singaporeans want to invest in this new financial instrument, but their knowledge of it is low. To extrapolate, this can mean that our people can be easy targets for scammers,” a source working with C|T Group told The Independent Singapore.

The respondents said that investing in cryptocurrency is perceived as a risk rather than an opportunity, due to a lack of protection and the possibility of loss, especially when it comes to retirement savings.

Nevertheless, investing in cryptocurrency is also believed by those surveyed to be a way for people to get ahead and gain financial stability.

The survey showed that the respondents were not very aware of developments in the cryptocurrency world, with less than one-third saying they are definitely aware of cryptocurrency companies going defunct as well as of major cases of cryptocurrency scams or frauds.

In the same way, only 31 per cent were aware that sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings had written down its investments in cryptocurrency exchange company FTX.

Even fewer, or 19 per cent, were aware of cryptocurrency firms leaving Singapore and setting up in other locations instead.

Almost 2 in 5 (39 per cent) said they were most concerned about major cases of cryptocurrency scams or fraud. /TISG

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