The night until Thursday touched bitcoin over the 124,000-dollar limit and thus set a new record. The online bank Avanza sees a large influx of investments in cryptocurrencies.
In October last year, we had 87,000 private owners with exposure to cryptocurrencies and now we have 144,000.
– Of those who own crypto assets, 78 percent are men and two-thirds are between 18 and 40, so it is really an overrepresentation.
Half lose money
Frida Bratt, economist at Nordnet, sees the same trend.
We see an increase and the largest part of the increase came at the end of 2024 in connection with the presidential election in the USA. Then there is much else that happens that makes people invest in this type of product, including new regulations from the EU, but it is above all related to Donald Trump's policy, so much can be said.
In May 2024, the Financial Supervisory Authority published a report that warned of crypto investments. In the report, it is stated that more than half of Swedes who have invested in crypto certificates (a security that follows the value of the underlying asset) in recent years have lost money, despite the market rising by up to 500 percent during those years.
Later investigations from the Financial Supervisory Authority also confirm the increasing interest. In 2023, 6 percent of Swedes had bought crypto in the past year. In February this year, the figure was 13 percent. In May this year, 20 percent had bought a crypto asset at some point.
Public signals weigh heavily
Johan Javeus, senior economist at SEB, sees two reasons for the increasing interest.
The one is the generally positive sentiment that exists around all types of risk assets right now. We see that not least on the stock exchanges which also set new records, and in an environment where investors are willing to take more risk, cryptocurrencies also tend to do very well.
Then there is also the political turnaround that has occurred after Trump took over the White House. It has opened up for regulatory easing and new crypto-friendly legislation that benefits the crypto industry and this type of asset.
He means that when the public sends signals about taking in cryptocurrencies, it weighs heavily.
Just the change from American authorities makes many in this industry sense opportunities for crypto to grow and become much bigger than it would have been otherwise, says Johan Javeus.
Cryptocurrencies are like an electronic "token" with a unique cryptographic code that makes it difficult to counterfeit. It can be bought with ordinary money and then exchanged for various goods and services.
Cryptocurrencies are decentralized and not dependent on a central bank that guarantees the currency's value and authenticity. Instead, it is blockchain technology and its inherent mechanisms that serve as a guarantee for the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin is the most talked-about cryptocurrency, but there are thousands of different cryptocurrencies with varying technology and function.
