Hong Kong Crypto Investor Awareness, Behavior Survey

47% of retail crypto investors in Hong Kong are aware of the Virtual Asset Trading Platform Regulatory Regime, which went into effect in June to safeguard the interests of retail digital asset investors.

This is the case, according to a report made public on October 11 by the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC) of Hong Kong.

In its survey, the IFEC found that nearly 25% of Hong Kong adults between the ages of 18 and 29 have invested in cryptocurrencies in the past year, which is three times the demographic average and a significant increase from 2019, when only 3% of respondents in the same age group reported investing in cryptocurrencies.

Despite the increase in adoption, the majority of Hong Kong residents cited equities (96%) and mutual funds and trusts (24%) as their preferred investments, followed by bonds (18%).

Around three-quarters of all respondents stated that “short-term profits” and “fear of missing out” were their primary motivations for investing in cryptocurrencies.

One thousand respondents between the ages of 18 and 69 participated in the survey.

In response to the results, IFEC general manager Dora Li stated, “Investors should understand the product characteristics and associated risks before investing to align their choices with their financial goals and risk tolerance level.”

In the meantime, Eric Chui, head of the Department of Applied Social Sciences at PolyU, stated, “Investors in virtual assets should consider them more deliberately and logically.

To avoid irrational investment behavior and biases, they should also increase their financial literacy and gather high-quality market information.

Hong Kong legalized retail crypto trading for licensed exchanges beginning in June, with varied results.

During this period, the JPEX crypto exchange scandal, the largest Ponzi scheme in Hong Kong’s history, unraveled in the Special Administrative Region of China.