Crypto More Popular Than Gold Among Russian Investors: Report

A survey among over 2,000 Russian investors has placed cryptocurrency next to gold in terms of popularity. Moreover, younger investors aged below 30 have displayed significant favoritism towards digital assets.

Crypto Ranks Above Gold Among Russian Investors

According to the study published by the World Gold Council, investors from the world’s largest country by landmass have allocated the most funds into generally accepted as safer instruments such as savings accounts, foreign currencies, real estate, and life insurance.

When asked what sorts of investment tools they had invested in the past 12 months, they placed cryptocurrencies as the fifth most popular asset with 17%. Interestingly, gold came next with 16%.

World Gold Council Director of Central Banks and Public Policy, Dr. Tatiana Fic, commented that gold had been a valuable part of Russia’s history. She explained that the development of the gold mining industry began in 1745 with the discovery of gold in the Urals. In the next 100 years, more than half of the global gold production came from Siberia.

However, she noted that the investment market has declined in interest lately. Dr. Fic reasoned that there’s an evident lack of education, resulting in people steering clear from the bullion. She also claimed that investors fear buying fake or counterfeit gold products.

It’s worth noting that Russia seized purchasing gold earlier this year following half of decade of increased accumulation.

Younger Generations Keen To Experiment With Crypto

WGC’s report confirmed previous narratives that younger generations prefer allocating funds into riskier investment instruments such as digital assets.

“18-to-24-year-olds are much more willing to take risks to get exponential growth, rather than take a long-term view. For example, they are the least likely to have invested in a savings account but are the most likely to have invested in collectibles – and around two-thirds are considering investing in cryptocurrencies.” – the report reads.

The paper highlighted that the growing role of mobile apps linked to investment accounts have made it easier for tech-savvy youth to purchase their preferred assets. Cryptocurrencies lead the way “with nearly 80% being bought exclusively online.”

Although physical gold has been bought mostly offline, the report noted that online investments in gold-backed ETFs and vaulted gold have jumped in the past few years as well.