New YouGov research shows purchase intent of cryptocurrency among esports fans in the UK has ‘substantially increased’ in the past 12 months.
Esports fans who say they are very likely, likely or somewhat likely to use cryptocurrency in the next year has increased by ten points – equating to a 21% increase (47% in 2021 vs 57% in 2022).
The impact is even greater for the general UK population, whose likely use of crypto has increased by close to 64% (from 11% to 18%).
YouGov also found that esports fans in the UK are nearly three times as likely as the general population to see cryptos to be the future of online transactions (52% vs. 18%) and six times more likely to be willing to give up their bank account and use crypto instead (37% vs. 6%).
However, esports fans are more likely than the general population to see financial matters as confusing (52% vs 36%).
YouGov also revealed that Bitcoin is the most popular form of crypto among UK esports fans.
Top cryptocurrencies UK esports fans have used
YouGov said in a statement: “There remains plenty of partnership opportunities for esports brands in the crypto space as investments increase. Marketers may want to think about ways to boost the confidence of this young audience when speaking to them.”
Specific methodology for the survey was not revealed, but Esports News UK has reached out to YouGov to ask, and we’ll update this article if we receive comment.
The news comes as London-headquartered esports organisation Fnatic launch the pre-sale of their new blockchain-powered Fnatic membership keys, to a mixed response.
In another recent report, YouGov found that Britain has one of the highest proportion of female viewers of gaming streams in the world.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
