89% still trust centralized custodians despite 2022's collapses: Survey

American crypto users haven’t mislaid their spot successful “intermediaries” to clasp their crypto, with a January survey from Paxos suggesting a bulk of United States crypto hodlers inactive spot banks, exchanges and mobile outgo apps to custody their assets.

An yearly online survey published connected Mar. 7 by the stablecoin issuer conducted betwixt Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 sought to recognize however the crypto wintertime and “large manufacture fallouts” successful 2022 — including FTX and Alameda Research — impacted user behaviour and assurance successful the crypto ecosystem. Paxos noted:

“2022 was a rollercoaster twelvemonth for the crypto industry.”

“Ranging from immoderate of the highest Bitcoin prices ever to immoderate of the lowest, largescale manufacture fallouts from companies similar Terra, FTX, Alameda Research, and much — it was a volatile and perchance confidence-testing twelvemonth for the ecosystem,” it added.

After a turbulent extremity to 2022, crypto consumers person remained assured for 2023. We conducted a user survey and recovered galore reasons wherefore crypto is inactive viewed arsenic a superior staple for fiscal livelihoods. Read our afloat survey here: https://t.co/AwFrGMuX0r pic.twitter.com/TZcmct0O5L

— Paxos (@PaxosGlobal) March 7, 2023

However, the survey recovered that of those that heard and followed the FTX saga, much than fractional (57%) of respondents either planned to bargain much crypto oregon simply bash thing arsenic a effect of the news.

It besides recovered that 89% of respondents inactive trusted “intermediaries” specified arsenic "banks, crypto exchanges and/or mobile outgo apps" to clasp their crypto, stating:

“In fact, contempt the high-profile collapses and underlying mediocre hazard absorption practices seen successful respective crypto companies, crypto owners inactive spot intermediaries to clasp crypto connected their behalf.”

The survey besides recovered much tendency from consumers to beryllium capable to bargain Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and different integer assets from household oregon accepted banks, with 75% of respondents indicating they were “likely oregon precise likely” to acquisition crypto from their “primary bank” if it were offered, a 12 percent constituent summation from the twelvemonth before.

Graph showing respondents who indicated they were apt to acquisition crypto from their superior bank. Source: Paxos

“Additionally, 45% of respondents reported they would beryllium encouraged to put much successful crypto if determination was much mainstream adoption by banks and different fiscal institutions,” Paxos added. 

It said a "significant untapped opportunity" existed for banks if they expanded offerings to integer assets. "Not lone would these services fulfill expanding demand, but they would besides effect successful higher engagement,” Paxos claimed.

Related: Paxos is engaged successful ‘constructive discussions’ with SEC: Report

Respondents qualified for the survey if they lived successful the United States, were implicit 18 years of age, had a full household income greater than $50,000 and purchased cryptocurrency sometime wrong the past 3 years. The survey recruited 5,000 participants.

75% of respondents continued to beryllium assured successful the aboriginal of crypto. Source: Paxos

“Despite the volatile 2022 crypto landscape, consumers didn’t suffer religion successful their crypto investments. This fig was unchanged from the erstwhile year’s report, underlining the semipermanent assurance of those participating successful crypto markets,” wrote Paxos. 

The timing of the survey nevertheless means that the gleaned results did not instrumentality into relationship more caller crypto headwinds, specified arsenic the bankruptcy of crypto lender Genesis, the crackdown connected Binance USD (BUSD) involving Paxos and the fiscal uncertainty of crypto slope Silvergate Capital.