A new survey has revealed that 73.4% of Argentines believe cryptocurrencies are the most effective way to save and protect their funds under the current political and economic conditions.

The survey, commissioned by Bitcoin marketplace Paxful and conducted by Crypto 247, featured 1,113 respondents throughout Argentina, aged between 18 and 55,and “highlighted that Argentines are willing to venture into new forms of investment due to the need to protect the value of their financial savings.”

It’s worth noting the results are likely biased towards cryptoassets, as Crypto 247 is a local cryptocurrency news outlet. As such, 69.5% of those surveyed said they invested at least once in cryptocurrencies, with the main reason being the economic shelter from the depreciation of the local currency due to inflation.

The results likely only represent Argentine cryptocurrency users, although the methodology of the study hasn’t been released. Out of the respondents, 67.8% said they believe cryptocurrency investments are “extremely safe.”

When specifically asked about investing in bitcoin, 53.9% of those who invested said they did so after careful evaluation of its potential, with 50.6% pointing to its centralization. 49.1% said they weighed its ability to provide security was a factor for them.

Magdiela Rivas, Paxful’s Latin America Manager, said:

During this year we have observed a major increase in the operations carried out by Argentine users on our platform, especially since the pandemic started, registering an increase of 37.5% in the volume compared to the previous periods.

Notably, 30.5% of those surveyed said they did not yet invest in cryptocurrencies, mostly because of a lack of understanding of how cryptos work (24.2%(, while some revealed they do not have funds to invest (12.8%), or fear using an unknown new currency (7.7%).

Commenting on these results Rivas said: “we know that the crypto industry offers many opportunities that people still don’t know about.”

It’s worth pointing out Argentina has been enduring an economic crisis that has seen the value of its fiat currency drop significantly as its inflation rate nears the highest level seen in three decades.

Featured image via Unsplash.