Bitcoin worth the risk for stimulus check recipients despite pressing needs: poll

Most Americans who expect to receive the next round of relief bill stimulus checks will use the money to buy necessities and pay off debts, but some are still willing to invest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), a new poll reveals.

A study conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Yahoo Finance showed that 15% of people who received the last two rounds of stimulus checks directed some or all of the money towards investments. Of that group, around half invested in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) specifically.

The trend is expected to continue when the first of the latest stimulus checks are sent out at the end of March, according to the poll results. The number of recipients who plan to invest some of their checks increases to 17% this time, while the overall number of crypto buyers remains fairly stable, at 41% of the would-be investor group.

Paying for basic necessities like rent, groceries and medicine was the foremost concern for poll respondents, 62% of whom said they needed the funds to cover the cost of essential needs.

A sizable segment were still able to save some of the money received from the first stimulus check (36%) and the second (33%), and the latest responses show that figure is expected to increase to 40% when the third check is issued.

A willingness to experiment financially with the COVID-19 stimulus funds is found more readily in high-income households. Among respondents from households earning more than $100,000 per year, 10% invested in cryptocurrencies using their first stimulus check, and 13% with their second. That figure is expected to rise to 14% this time around. Comparatively, just 3% of households making less than $50,000 per year were able or willing to invest in cryptocurrencies.

The survey was conducted among 1,052 U.S. adults in an online setting, which naturally skews the data. Another recent survey, from a much smaller sample size, suggested that around 10% of the $400 billion issued to individuals in the next round of stimulus checks could make its way into Bitcoin.