#Bitcoin ownership rose sharply in 2021 due to
- higher savings & wealth during the pandemic
- more platforms & accessible/easy options to buy Bitcoin
(not to rub it in again my US friends, but we do have multiple Bitcoin & crypto ETFs in Canada) 3/
I also suspect NGU technology brought in the class of 2021: we had the 2020 risk off event that dropped Bitcoin to 4k & it subsequently rose to a 69k (nice) ATH in 2021
4/
Over half of all Canadian #Bitcoin owners invested in Bitcoin for the first time during the 20/21 pandemic
Investment reasons have largely driven the recent surge in #Bitcoin ownership for Canadians, esp for the class of 2020 & 2021 5/
There are a few notable differences between recent investors (ie Class of 2020 & 2021) & longer-term hodlers
6/
70% of Bitcoin owners held <$5000
But recent owners hold smaller amounts: CA$250 vs $2000 median value for recent vs longer term owners
(NB the value of Bitcoin holdings is higher for Bitcoiners that bought before 2020 b/c they benefited from the run-up in prices in 2020) 7/
Recent owners are less likely to use use #Bitcoin for purchases than longer-term owners (55% vs 29%)
They're also less likely to use BTC for p2p tx (65% vs 40%)
(Unsurprising given: they're less knowledgeable, the rise of ETFs, & some platforms didn't allow withdrawals) 8/
Bitcoin businesses take note: mobile apps leads how Canadians buy #Bitcoin (53%)
It's so beautiful to see that 23% of Canadian bitcoiners mine as a way to stack sats 9/
Longer-term Bitcoin owners are more likely to mine, use BTMs, & conduct p2p deals to acquire sats (perhaps they value privacy more than recent investors) 10/
This is interesting...
Canadian #Bitcoin owners hold substantially higher amounts of cash than non-owners
And longer-term Bitcoin investors tend to hold more cash than recent investors
Have hodlers cashed out? Are they timing the market? 11/
Canadians have seen their share of lost keys, ICO scams, problems w/ transactions, stolen funds, exchange hacks, & data breaches by 2021
But large price corrections are the most common adverse "incident" reported by Bitcoin / crypto owners (we all suffer the bear๐ป) 12/
89% of Canadians have heard of Bitcoin in 2021 - BC leads & Quebec lags
Notably, Bitcoin awareness among women increased
the most, from 54% in 2016 to 87% in 2021 ๐ฅ 13/
Oof, class of 2021 showed a showed a low level of Bitcoin knowledge vs prev years - e.g., they thought that Bitcoin is backed by a gov
Unsurprisingly nocoiners also had a low level of understanding how Bitcoin works 14/
The @bankofcanada found 16% of Canadians owned at least one crypto (i.e., #Bitcoin or an altcoin)
It's amazing to get annual Bitcoin ownership stats from the @bankofcanada & their research scope is growing
Such studies can help policy makers make better policy & businesses can use it to inform products & services. I'd love other countries do the same w/ more participants
20/
The Bitcoin mining water critics are not doing the math right when it comes to water use for 3 reasons, a๐งต๐๐ผ 1/
In effect, the critics assume the following: 1. Identify the electricity grid mix for each mining jurisdiction 2. Apply the water impact of each energy source (eg nuclear, hydro) 3. Apply ๐๐ผ proportionally to how much โก๏ธ bitcoin consumes 4. Estimate a per tx water use
2/
Let's examine why their assumptions are problematic
1. Direct vs indirect water use
The biggest issue is they assume direct water use by miners when it's indirect (ie electricity generators) <-- this is an important distinction so let's explore in analogies
3/
ERCOTs new study shows that Bitcoin miners are providing a benefit to the Texas grid
๐งต๐๐ผ
The Texas grid operator ERCOT just released a report that evaluates the adequacy of installed generation capacity for the winter based on historic data + several risk scenario forecasts (eg extreme demand, low wind, extreme peak load)
2/
The ERCOT report shows that Bitcoin miners are predicted to provide (ie curtail) 1.7GW to help meet winter peak demand in Texas 3/