Retail investors are worried bitcoin will plunge below $20,000 this year, Deutsche Bank survey says

Published Tue, Jan 23 202412:30 PM EST

Crypto skeptics aren't changing their tune just because they can now buy bitcoin exposure through an exchange traded fund, according to a Deutsche Bank survey. Since the launch of the ETFs on Jan. 11, bitcoin has fallen about 20% to roughly $39,000, according to FactSet. So far, institutions have been slow to adopt the new funds in portfolios and retail investors aren't entirely convinced they need to, London-based Deutsche Bank analyst Marion Laboure said in a note Tuesday. The bank polled 2,000 consumers across the U.S., U.K. and Europe after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the ETFs earlier this month. It found that more than a third of respondents believe bitcoin will fall below $20,000 by the end of this year. Furthermore, more than half of participants indicated they believe a "major cryptocurrency" will collapse entirely in the next two years. Looking at bitcoin specifically, Deutsche said 39% of survey participants think it will stick around in the coming years, while 42% anticipate it will disappear. "The survey's results clearly indicate a lack of understanding of cryptocurrencies, as two-thirds of consumers possess minimal or no understanding of these digital assets," Laboure said. She added that the negative sentiment could be tied to past events, including the collapse of FTX in 2022 as well the SEC's lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase, two of the biggest exchanges in the world. The price of bitcoin rallied in the second half of last year, largely on market expectations that the U.S. would approve its first spot bitcoin ETFs this year, bringing the asset class legitimacy as well as an easy, convenient way for investors to add it to their holdings. Despite bitcoin's January sell-off, the crypto asset still has potential tailwinds in coming months, including an upcoming SEC decision on spot ether ETFs in May and the Bitcoin halving expected in April, Laboure wrote. "The crypto world is gradually moving towards greater institutionalization as traditional financial players (tradFi) enter the market," Laboure said. "Overall, the evolving ETF landscape and participations of institutional players are helping crypto mature into a more established asset class." —CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed reporting.