Bloomberg Tax
Nov. 16, 2022, 2:57 AM

About 75% of Retail Buyers of Bitcoin Lost Money, BIS Study Says

Sunil Jagtiani
Sunil Jagtiani
Bloomberg Editorial

A study of how retail investors use cryptocurrency exchange apps suggests about three-quarters have lost money on Bitcoin, according to the Bank for International Settlements.

Data spanning 95 countries from 2015 to 2022 indicates the vast majority of app downloads occurred when Bitcoin’s price was above $20,000, the working paper from the Basel, Switzerland-based BIS says.

The analysis says if we assume each new user bought $100 of Bitcoin in the month they installed the app and each month thereafter, 81% would have lost money.

The study raises “questions about the implications of greater crypto adoption for the economy ...