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Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners

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  • Daniela Balutel
  • Christopher Henry
  • Kim Huynh
  • Marcel Voia

Abstract

We estimate the effect of Bitcoin ownership on the level of cash holdings of Canadian consumers. Bitcoin ownership positively correlates with cash holdings even after accounting for selection into ownership via a control function approach. On average, Bitcoin owners hold 83 percent (in 2018) to 95 percent (in 2017) more cash than non-owners. Focusing on the quantiles of cash holdings, we find that Bitcoin ownership has a highly nonlinear effect. For example, the difference in cash holdings between Bitcoin owners and non-owners in 2017 varies from 63 percent at the 25th quantile of cash to 176 percent at the 95th quantile of cash. Our results provide some evidence to reject the hypothesis that new digital currencies or technologies, such as Bitcoin, will lead to a decline in cash holdings.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Balutel & Christopher Henry & Kim Huynh & Marcel Voia, 2022. "Cash in the Pocket, Cash in the Cloud: Cash Holdings of Bitcoin Owners," Staff Working Papers 22-26, Bank of Canada.
    • Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:22-26
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Walter Engert & Ben Fung & Björn Segendorf, 2019. "A Tale of Two Countries: Cash Demand in Canada and Sweden," Discussion Papers 2019-7, Bank of Canada.
    2. Fujiki, Hiroshi, 2020. "Who adopts crypto assets in Japan? Evidence from the 2019 financial literacy survey," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
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    6. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "Control Function Methods in Applied Econometrics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 420-445.
    7. Kim Huynh & Jozsef Molnar & Oleksandr Shcherbakov & Qinghui Yu, 2020. "Demand for Payment Services and Consumer Welfare: The Introduction of a Central Bank Digital Currency," Staff Working Papers 20-7, Bank of Canada.
    8. Christopher Henry & Kim Huynh & Gradon Nicholls & Mitchell Nicholson, 2019. "2018 Bitcoin Omnibus Survey: Awareness and Usage," Discussion Papers 2019-10, Bank of Canada.
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Balutel & Christopher Henry & Jorge Vásquez & Marcel Voia, 2022. "Bitcoin adoption and beliefs in Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 55(4), pages 1729-1761, November.

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    Keywords

    Bank notes; Digital currencies and fintech; Econometric and statistical methods;
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