Bitcoin enthusiasts are ‘not psychopaths,’ a new study suggests.

The average Bitcoin investor is a financial genius with an impeccable character, according to a new study. Canadian investors anyway.

Stefano Di Domenico, a behavioral scientist and assistant professor at the University of Toronto, is finalizing a collaborative study on “The psychological make-up and financial knowledge of Bitcoin users.” The results haven’t been officially announced yet, but he previewed them at the Canadian Bitcoin Conference earlier this month.

The co-authors noted that their findings, based on a sample of 500 Canadian retail cryptocurrency investors, contradict common misconceptions about the demographic – who are often caricatured as immature “crypto bros” who are irresponsible with their money.

“Bitcoin users tend to be intellectually curious and emotionally stable,” Di Domenico wrote on LinkedIn earlier this month about his findings. “They value personal growth, relationships, community and health more than material possessions and having a ‘high’ image.”

The research survey included more than 350 questions to address more than a dozen hypotheses. Di Domenico acknowledged the input of “Bitcoin agnostic colleagues” for their “critical and open contributions,” and noted that the results are still being prepared for peer review.

“My colleagues and I look forward to finalizing the paper and sharing more complete and detailed results.” Di Domenico tweeted today.

Nonetheless, the initial results of this study new york post Two years ago, Bitcoiners summarized their findings with the headline “Mental Patients Who Care About No One.”

A study conducted by scientists at Australia’s Queensland University of Technology found that many cryptocurrency investors exhibited all four “dark tetrad” traits, including narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. However, one of the authors admitted that the survey of 566 people only covered “a small subset of people who are interested in cryptocurrencies and have these characteristics.”

According to the study’s registration page, Di Domenico’s study specifically surveyed customers of Canadian cryptocurrency exchange platform Shakepay.

The author said that in addition to being growth-oriented, cryptocurrency investors are also financially literate. “It is worth noting that both Bitcoin users and cryptocurrency enthusiasts score significantly higher on financial literacy than the general public,” he said.

This result has independent support. Canadian cryptocurrency investors tend to cluster at the extremes of low and high financial literacy, while investors with average financial literacy are the least likely to invest, according to a 2021 Bank of Canada study.

Di Domenico added, “Despite what the tabloids claim, Bitcoiners are not psychopaths.”

When the study began in early September, the authors hypothesized that Bitcoin ownership would be positively correlated with “risk tolerance” and “financial well-being.” He also predicted that people who only own Bitcoin would score lower on the “dark tetrad” trait than those who also invested in Ethereum or a variety of other crypto assets. It remains to be seen whether these theories have been tested by research.

When contacted decryptionDi Domenico declined further comment following the conference announcement until the study was peer-reviewed and formally published.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.