Bitcoin awareness and usage in Canada

Gradon Nicholls

Canadian Stata Users' Group Meetings 2017 from Stata Users Group

Abstract: There has been a tremendous discussion of Bitcoin, digital currencies, and fintech. However, there is limited empirical evidence of its adoption and usage. We propose a methodology to collect a nationally representative sample via the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey (BTCOS) to track the ubiquity and usage of Bitcoin in Canada. We find that about 64 percent of Canadians have heard of Bitcoin, but only 4 percent own it. We find that awareness of Bitcoin was strongly associated with men and those with college or university education; additionally, Bitcoin awareness was also more concentrated among unemployed individuals. On the other hand, Bitcoin ownership was associated with younger age groups and a high school education. Furthermore, we construct a test of Bitcoin characteristics to gauge the level of perceived versus actual knowledge held by respondents. We find that knowledge is positively correlated with Bitcoin adoption. Based on the survey response and data, we offer suggestions to improve future digital currency surveys, in particular, to achieve precise estimates from the hard-to-reach population of digital currency users using social network analysis.

Date: 2017-09-20
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:boc:csug17:08

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