Bank of Canada – Billionaire365

Bank Of Canada Study Reveals That Bitcoin (BTC) Awareness Increased Among Canadians

Canadian citizens used Bitcoin (BTC) primarily for investment purposes in 2017, according to a recent study by the Bank of Canada (BoC) published on July 23rd. The study is an update of the results of the Bitcoin Omnibus Survey conducted by the Central Bank of Canada in a short period between December 12th and 15th 2017, just days before Bitcoin (BTC) reached its record high of $20,000 on December 17th.

According to the survey results, Canadians have mainly used the leading cryptocurrency in the world for investment purposes in 2017, rather than for transactions, which had previously been cited as the main reason for dealing with Bitcoin (BTC) in 2016.

While 58 percent of respondents said the primary motivation was “like an investment,” 12 percent of Canadian Bitcoin (BTC) holders allegedly used BTC because “My friends own Bitcoin,” 7 percent because of their interest in new technologies, while 6 percent to buy goods and services on the Internet.

Among non-transactors, those who used Bitcoin (BTC) did that “once or twice, but not regularly,” while the vast majority of them, 77 percent, responded that they invested in Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin (BTC) awareness increased among Canadian in 2017, in comparison to 2016

Residents of British Columbia presented the highest level of knowledge about Bitcoin (BTC), with reported growth from 77 percent in 2016 to 93 percent in 2017. The prairies ranked second in the Canadian provinces regarding BTC awareness, while Ontario residents came third.

Canada’s provincial financial regulator, the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), had published a report in late June concluding that only three percent of Ontario residents had completed a brief test on the basics of Bitcoin (BTC), while 34 percent demonstrated common knowledge.

In early June, the Bank of Canada ‘s executive, James Chapman, said that cryptocurrencies pose no risk to the fiat money system, saying the only thing that can be a threat in a case of hyperinflation. Ontario in third place, according to the study.

Anna Galvez

Bank of Canada Rates Remain Steady – A Cautious Attitude

Currently, the Bank of Canada continues to build their case for some higher interest rates. However, they have stopped for the moment. The central bank has remained with a key rate unchanged from 1.25% on Wednesday. Related to this, they cited the present weakness in housing, as well as trade and investment when it comes to export.

A Cautious Attitude

Many key ingredients for sustaining higher rates seem to be okay. However, the bank declared its intention of remaining cautious when it comes to other policy adjustments in the future. Currently, we look at Canada’s economy while it’s operating with ‘little slack’. Moreover, inflation has been edging higher and now it’s in line with the 2% target set by the bank. All this information was presented in a statement issued by the bank to justify its rate decision. Don’t forget that the rising wages are also making the consumption growth stay quite ‘robust’.

An Interesting Evolution

Ever since last June, we witnessed three raises of the key rate of the bank. What’s more, the investors and economists expect us to see one more in 2018. Andrew Grantham works as an economist for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. According to him, the statement shows that the Bank will most likely make another rate hike in July. However, they’re not rushing to move anytime soon after that.

We can blame the go-slow attitude of the bank partly on the expansive capacity to grow of the economy. For 2018, 2019, and 2020, the bank boosted its own estimate for the potential output grow by 2 – 4%. This information was present in the Monetary Policy Report, which they had released on Wednesday. Now, the median should equal 1.8% in all these three years. If they are right, an increased capacity can help the economy grow faster without triggering the inflation.

Henry R. Lares

Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.