Very recently, Gemini has done us a great deal by releasing a few reports on the State of Crypto in various countries. I have taken a look at both State of Crypto: US and State of Crypto: SG.
As a crypto marketer based in Singapore working for various projects overseas, identifying target audiences is always one of the hardest tasks. We generally have a profile of the audience (such as DeFi enthusiast, ETH maximalist, etc.), but it is always hard to dive deeper and see where these people are really coming from – due to the nature of decentralization and the inaccuracy of demographics due to common usage of VPN by crypto investors.
Methodology:
State of Crypto US Report was based on: a total sample of 3,000 U.S. adults, ages 18 to 65 with $40,000 or more in household income. Survey respondents were polled from October 19-November 16, 2020, and included 921 self-identifying current cryptocurrency owners and 1,697 consumers who were interested in learning more about cryptocurrency.
State of Crypto SG Report was a collaboratively effort done jointly by Seedly and CoinMarketCap: based on a total sample of 4,348 Singapore based adults, ages 18 to 65 across varying household incomes. Survey respondents were polled from 29 June 2021 to 9 July 2021, and included 2,862 self-identifying current crypto holders and 1,486 consumers who might be interested to learn more or start investing in cryptocurrency.
From the methodology, we can see that the reports are not entirely similar with few differences such as household incomes and citizenship – noting that Singapore today consists of almost 40% immigrants. The survey period was also slightly different with US being done in late 2020, which is during the bull-run due to the rise of DeFi (and *coughs* Elon Musk), while the SG report was done this year in June, when most token prices have already dropped back in May.
Current Crypto Holders:
To be honest, before going through the reports, I sat on it for a week. I assumed that the holders in both countries should be of the similar profiles, at least when it comes to the age range. But my findings have suggested otherwise – and reminded myself that it is very important to cater to different markets with use of localization should a specific brand/company decide to expand locally.
In US, the current crypto investors on average are 38 years old – this I remember hearing on the Bankless podcast that they were surprised at how the average investors are older than expected. This, however, isn’t the case in Singapore, with an average age of 29. The US report further noted that 71% of them are white/caucasians and summarised the average cryptocurrency owner to be a “38-year-old male making approximately $111k a year”. I remember when I first joined cryptocurrency in 2018, it was reported on Fortune that nearly half of Bitcoin owners are minorities. And again, important to note that Bitcoin was the keyword back in the days. Who cared about altcoins, really? Well, definitely not the mainstream media.
Crypto-curious:
Here’s to the people who have been itching to try it out but never had the chance/balls to. Anyway, this is where it differs again. In US, it looks to be 44 years old which also indicates the shift in the appeal of this market (as mentioned in the report as well) from an investment POV to a mainstream product.
In Sg, the crypto-curious are pretty similar to the current investors at 28 years old. Seems like the older generations in Singapore are still more comfortable with tradfi, which brings us to the next segment.
Deterrence:
When it comes to marketing in cryptocurrency, it really is anything and everything – from content writing, community management, referral and promotional campaigns, to social media (not forgetting rating sites,…. and more). One thing that keeps coming up is Thought Leadership. I personally haven’t been in any other industry that could be any more political than in crypto. It matters who you know, what you know, what you say and who you work with.
Which is why platforms such as Clubhouse and Discord are utilized to let project founders communicate with community members and display their thought leadership. Every other day, you see an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit/Twitter/Telegram.. It is a constant effort to showcase what you know and what value you provide. Because most cryptocurrency owners not only look at price speculations, but the team behind the project. They are investing in the people.
As a marketer helping projects, I find myself constantly reminding project owners that it is important for them to be out there, speaking about their vision, their knowledge, and what they think about the future of cryptocurrency (or any specific niche the project is based out of). Beyond this, it is even more important for the marketer and teams to be working together to provide more educational content for both the average user, as well as the ones new to it. Educating people about cryptocurrency isn’t just one company’s job. It is everyone’s.
There is no masterclass in blockchain and cryptocurrency education because it is sooo fast-paced. The SG Report indicated that the largest deterrence for the crypto-curious to own any is the lack of knowledge and understanding of the market. And even as a hodler for years, I relate! It is always tough to be updated with the newest protocol, product, projects when new things come up every other day. Complementarily, the US Report showed the levels of knowledge between types of investors and it concluded that crypto investors take time to build on knowledge and do more research before purchasing any crypto.
Which is why brands that are new might find themselves building a knowledge hub while growing its user acquisition because it makes total sense to. Centralized exchanges and platforms have already been working on this by providing access to more resources and their own unique versions of the academy – Binance Academy, Cryptopedia, and more. But really, the best lesson any one can get is by going through it themselves. And it’s really not hard considering how low the fees could be. You could literally start owning a fraction of ETH/BTC at $100.
Why Crypto:
Both reports had the same results to why people are purchasing crypto – most of them are holders: buying and holding for the long term. The reason, I think, is simple, the prices right now are still relatively lower than what it could be in the future (according to speculations, no doubt lol) and even in comparison to few months back.
Most of these people are trying their luck to hold some crypto in relatively smaller amounts in case the prices go up, having missed out on the BTC low prices years back. Everyone’s searching for the next BTC. Looking at this as a diversification of portfolio. Besides this, I personally know of people who hold crypto and would like to start trading cryptocurrency but have no idea how it works (despite the resources available online).
Interestingly, the SG report also included what people were most interested in when it comes to crypto: DeFi (almost 60%), hedging, and finally NFTs (<30%). Which explains why Singaporeans are holding mostly ETH instead of BTC. They also consume most content on crypto via YouTube and other social platforms (Twitter/Reddit). So whoever is building a DeFi platform targeting Singaporeans, you know what to do.
Thanks again, Gemini.
With love,
A crypto marketer!
**Original article from cokeofalltrades.com