People from all walks of life have entered the cryptocurrency market since the launch of Bitcoin’s open source software popularized the concept 15 years ago.
However, some personalities are more attracted to a decentralized, anonymous economic system than others.
A 2022 poll of more than 2,000 American adults conducted across the United States confirmed that owners of one of the thousands of cryptocurrencies in existence tend to have a “dark” personality.
Additionally, a recent data analysis by researchers from the University of Toronto and the University of Miami also found a link between belief in conspiracy theories and greater use of extremist social media platforms.
The concept of a privacy-preserving digital economic system dates back to the 1980s, but it was the emergence of Bitcoin in 2009 that attracted serious investment from the wider public.
The global cryptocurrency market capitalization is just under US$2.5 trillion, most of which is in the form of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether.
For investors, the encrypted ledger technology behind the currency offers measures of privacy and security not available in other forms of money, and by removing the need for financial institutions or national oversight, it places economic control directly in the hands of those who distribute wealth.
In reality, cryptocurrencies are fringe currencies maintained by a dedicated minority, more similar to gambling chips than a pocketful of cash.
Due to distrust in mainstream authority, crypto investors are likely to place more importance on conspiracy theories, have different political leanings, and have less trust in science.
But existing research has found it difficult to pin down investors to a specific ideology, with digital currency holders being described as a variety of things, including anarchists, libertarians and populists. Other studies have noted worrying links between far-right ideology and white supremacy.
To find out what defines the type of people willing to jump on the crypto dream, cognitive psychologist Shane Littrell of the University of Toronto and his colleagues Casey Klofstad and Joseph Uscinski of the University of Miami surveyed 2,001 Americans about their cryptocurrency ownership status as well as their political, psychological and social characteristics.
While only 30% of respondents claimed to own cryptocurrency, the group’s political stance was surprisingly diverse, representing a range of political ideologies from both the left and right extremes.
However, there was also a tendency for investors to stray from the traditional range and adhere to Christian nationalist and American exceptionalist orientations. They were also typified by darker personality traits such as narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism, and scored slightly higher than non-crypto investors on measures reflecting a desire for chaos, confirming similar findings to past studies.
So far, the biggest predictors of being a current or former cryptocurrency owner are being male, relying heavily on fringe social media for news, being argumentative, and disliking authoritarian forms of government.
The sample size of the self-reported results is so small that it is difficult to say with confidence how representative they are of the general public, especially outside the U.S. It is also important to reiterate that not all cryptocurrency buyers are the same, and the motivations and interests that drive investment decisions are highly diverse.
But the authors argue that their findings offer valuable details that can help us better understand cryptocurrency demographics in a world where trust in traditional authority structures and media sources is becoming increasingly decentralized.
“As governments seek to more closely regulate or potentially emulate cryptocurrencies, they will need to understand the appeal of such currencies,” the team wrote.
This study was published in PLOS ONE.
