Over 50% of Binance's Russian Customers Believe Crypto Can Replace Bank Deposits

Binance users in Russia believe crypto can one day elbow out banks.

The cryptocurrency exchange, which is one of the most popular ones in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) area, surveyed users about their preferences in crypto. The survey results, reviewed by CoinDesk, offer a granular portrait of an average crypto user in this region, which leads the world in cryptocurrency adoption.

According to the report, out of 23,133 Binance users who took part in the poll, only 79.9% actually own crypto at this point of time.

A slim majority of users – 58.2% – believe that at some point in the future crypto can replace bank deposits as a way to save money, and 77.5% believe cryptocurrencies are good for the economy. About 40% are not using other tools such as stocks, mutual funds or investment in real estate.

A significant number of those who took the survey, 71.5%, said it's important for them to have opportunities to pay for goods and services with crypto. However, only 25.7% had an actual experience doing that.

Only 3.5% of respondents are hardcore bitcoiners keeping their crypto portfolios all in bitcoin, while 37.7% hold altcoins only and 34.5% only hold a minor, 1% to 20% portion of their crypto bags in BTC, the survey says.

Some 61% said their crypto holdings gained some profit in 2020; 72% said they are going to keep buying more through 2021. More than a half said they are mining proof-of-work cryptocurrencies or staking proof-of-stake coins.

People listed several reasons for buying crypto: while 37.7% were attracted by the price appreciation in 2020, 25.3% don't trust the traditional financial system and use crypto as a hedge. A smaller percentage noted the less-than-attractive interest rates of bank deposits and the inflation of the national currency (18.5% and 9.3%, respectively).

Read more: Ukraine Leads Global Crypto Adoption, Chainalysis Says in New Report

Most users believe bitcoin will either stay in the $50,000-$60,000 price area or increase in 2021, while 29% expect the price to fall under $40,000. Only a third of respondents know about the decentralized finance (DeFi) industry and only 15% own coins involved in the DeFi economy.

The vast majority – 83% – of those who took the survey live in Russia, 12.8% in Ukraine, 1% in Kazakhstan and even fewer in other countries. Most of the respondents are male (92.8%); only 7.3% are women, 58% haven't reached the age of 35 and 20% are younger than 25.

More than a half have a college education, work as payroll employees and consider their income as "average." Most are buying crypto using their salaries (59.3%) or savings (27.4%). However, a small share took loans, borrowed money from friends and family or even sold some property to invest in crypto, the report says.

See also: Binance CEO: ‘Russia Is Our Key Market’