10% of Irish adults now hold cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency ownership has dropped slightly in Ireland, with 10 per cent of Irish adults currently owning a form of digital currency.

This is down from 12 per cent last year, according to the latest data from Finder.com.

Men are much more likely to own cryptocurrency, with 72 per cent of crypto holders being men and just 28 per cent are women.

Bitcoin (35 per cent) is the most popular coin among Irish crypto owners, followed by Dogecoin (26 per cent) and Ethereum (23 per cent).

James Edwards, cryptocurrency specialist at Finder, says he’s surprised adoption didn’t decline further given the considerable drop in the crypto market.

“We saw huge drops in the price of Bitcoin at the start of May and June and while we did see a reduction in the number of people holding cryptocurrency it’s not as severe as expected.

“This suggests that while some people have sold, others are holding for the long term or may have actually bought cryptocurrency for the first time at what they consider to be a discount.”

Mr Edwards warns new investors that investing in cryptocurrency isn’t for the faint-hearted.

“Cryptocurrency is a hugely volatile industry and you should never invest money you can’t afford to lose. You should also pay attention to the cost of trading to make sure any gains aren’t negated by fees you need to pay as you buy and sell.”

Finder analysed cryptocurrency exchanges taking into account a range of factors such as fees, regulation, coins available and deposit methods to name Kraken the best global cryptocurrency exchange.

“Kraken had excellent scores for its comprehensive list of features, value for money and 24/7 customer service, making it a great platform for anyone interested in buying cryptocurrency”.