This photo shows a monitor at a cryptocurrency exchange in Seoul displaying transactions in Ethereum on May 3, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite the burgeoning interest in cryptocurrencies in South Korea, a majority still believe that investing in the digital currencies is speculative and without substance.
Four Seoul-based pollsters — Embrain Public, KSTAT Research, Korea Research International Inc. and Hankook Research — conducted a survey of 1,008 male and female adults over 18 years of age, 70 percent of whom believed that investing in cryptocurrency is like speculating on an asset without substance.
Only 20 percent responded that cryptocurrencies represent an investment in future value.
Asked on past experience with investing in cryptocurrencies, 9 percent said they were currently engaged in cryptocurrency investment, while 11 percent said they had stepped out.
Among those respondents, 36 percent of those between 18 and 29 years of age and 28 percent of those in their 30s believed that investing in cryptocurrencies represented an investment in future value, expressing more positive views than other age groups.
However, 59 percent of those in their 20s and 70 percent of those in their 30s believed that investing in cryptocurrencies was a form of speculation on assets without substance, easily outdoing contrasting responses.
Among those with past experience in cryptocurrency investment, 48 percent believed it was an investment in future value, while 50 percent saw it as speculation.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
