Thailand
Thai traders surge into crypto market
The number of cryptocurrency trading accounts grew 27.6% month-on-month, vastly outpacing a 2.9% monthly increase in new stock trading accounts, as investors seek assets with higher returns to offset low deposit account interest rates, Kasikorn Research Center said.
There are currently a total of 1,379,373 cryptocurrency trading accounts in the Thai market, less than half the number of stock market accounts, but with an explosive monthly growth rate.
Kasikorn Research recently conducted a survey to explore the investment behaviour of high-income private company employees living in Bangkok and its vicinity.
According to the survey, 69.4% of the respondents reportedly know about cryptocurrencies and 52% of them were interested in investing in them, reflecting the growing popularity of such trading.
However, cryptocurrency trading can still be considered exclusive as most of the active traders are people in urban areas with high incomes and savings.
Moreover, 42% of respondents that haven’t invested in cryptocurrencies have also expressed interest in investing in digital currencies next year, suggesting there may be a surge of cryptocurrency traders in the near future.
The survey also found that investors who have already invested in cryptocurrencies usually focus more on speculation than long-term trading.
“Some 26.6% of the respondents expect cryptocurrencies to be used for short-term speculation, indicating that cryptocurrencies are gaining traction as alternative speculative assets,” the report stated.
A total of 76.3% of the cryptocurrency traders in the sample said they would still be willing to take risks even if more than 50% of their investment was lost within a day, reflecting their great confidence in the assets’ ability to quickly rebound, the report stated.
Around 48.5% of the respondents with investments in cryptocurrencies have allocated no more than 10% of their savings to the assets, suggesting that they understand the risks associated with cryptocurrencies and can properly strategise to prevent huge losses.
Cryptocurrencies have been attracting more investors to the market and are expected to continue to rise in popularity. According to the survey, most investors show a good understanding of investment risks.
However, some investors from the survey also showed an incorrect understanding of risk regarding the volatility of the assets, as they are confident the returns from cryptocurrencies will be consistently high.
To reduce risk and create opportunities from investing in cryptocurrencies, investors and market authorities need both excellent financial literacy skills and in-depth knowledge of financial technology, Kasikorn Research stated.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2178707/thai-traders-surge-into-crypto-market