1 in 4 people in the 20-50 age group invests in coins

The number of male investors is double that of females

Office workers participate actively

A survey found that 27% of individuals in their 20s to 50s currently hold virtual assets. It was found that virtual asset investors are allocating 14% of their total financial assets to such investments.

On the 29th, the Hana Institute of Finance announced these findings through its 'Virtual Asset Investment Trend' report, which analyzed the investment characteristics of 1,000 financial consumers in their 20s to 50s.

According to the report, as of the end of last year, about 20% of the population (9.7 million people) had accounts at virtual asset exchanges. This is equivalent to 77% of the number of stock investors.

Among those surveyed from the 20-50 age group, 51% had experience investing in virtual assets. Of these, 27% are still actively invested. The share of virtual asset investment among these investors is 14% of their total financial assets, with an average investment of ₩13,000,000.

Among investors, those in their 30s and 40s accounted for 59% of the total. The number of male investors was double that of female investors, and by occupation, office workers (white-collar) made up 52%, exceeding the overall average.

The average financial assets of virtual asset investors were ₩96,790,000, about 1.3 times higher than the average assets of non-investors (₩75,670,000).

The main reason for investing in virtual assets was the psychology of following trends, known as FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), with 49% of respondents citing this.

However, among recent investors, those who said 'started investing due to trends' dropped to 34%, while those who responded 'wanted to experience a new type of investment' increased to 44%.

Methods of obtaining information are also changing. In the past, reliance on 'acquaintances' was high, but recently, there has been a clear tendency to use official channels such as virtual asset exchanges or analysis platforms for a more analytical approach.

Among virtual asset investors, 89% only held coins centered on Bitcoin, but as the investment period increased, there was also a tendency to expand portfolios to various assets such as Stablecoins.

The biggest inconvenience investors feel is that 'existing bank accounts cannot be linked' when opening an exchange account. Among investors who used an exchange for the first time, 76% experienced this inconvenience.

Lee Song Ryeol, Hankyung.com journalist yisr0203@hankyung.com