62% of investors would consider cryptocurrencies: poll

More than six in 10 people with currently no exposure to cryptocurrencies would consider including them in their investment portfolios, reveals a global poll by deVere Group.

Further, seven out of 10 people who do hold cryptocurrencies are planning to increase their exposure in the next 12 months.

Read: How to use bitcoin to purchase goods

When asked: “Would you consider, or are you considering, including at least one cryptocurrency into your investment portfolio?,” 62% of those who do not have any cryptocurrency said yes; 26%, no; and 12% said ‘do not know.’

Read: It’s not hard to stump Canadians with financial terms

“[The survey] suggests that these investors expect good returns in 2018 from cryptocurrencies, view them as a good longer-term investment, and that the market will eventually stabilize,” said deVere Group’s founder and CEO Nigel Green in a release. “Cryptocurrencies remain a gamble—they are very much ‘unchartered waters’ assets and caution must be exercised. However, I do believe that in today’s digital world, there is a need for digital currencies.”

Thailand to tax cryptocurrencies

Meanwhile, Thailand’s cabinet has agreed to draft a law to oversee cryptocurrency trading, seeking to tax the largely unregulated market.

Read: Small caps about more than cannabis in 2018

Government spokesman Nathporn Chatusripitak says the Ministry of Finance also proposed the new regulations to help prevent use of digital currencies in money laundering and fraud.

He adds details of the proposed regulations would be announced later in the month.

In February, Thailand’s central bank issued a circular asking financial institutions to not handle transactions involving cryptocurrencies.

Across Asia, governments have been belatedly moving to exert control over bitcoin exchanges and other fast-growing cryptocurrency-related activities.

About the deVere Group poll: The 800-plus respondents of this poll are deVere clients who currently reside in the U.S, the U.K., Australia, the UAE, Qatar, Switzerland, Hong Kong, Spain, France, Germany and South Africa.

Staff, with files from The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.