Startups & Bitcoins: hot topics among young Singaporeans on social media
It is not surprising that most netizens in Singapore discuss stocks and foreign currency investments, considering the market is the regional financial and investment hub. A rising trend also has been discussions around Bitcoin, where the conversations tend to be about Bitcoin trading activity and tax eligibility in Singapore.
A new report from, ThoughtBuzz’ as part of its ‘Young Singapore’ series on the BFSI industry, indicated that stocks (26 per cent), insurance (21 per cent) and startups (20 per cent) were hot topics discussed by young netizens across the country. The report, based on research by ThoughtBuzz, the social media analytics’ arm of To The New, analysed the social media conversations around banking, financial services and insurance sectors.
Earlier this year, The Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) announced that Singapore-registered companies that buy and sell Bitcoins or exchange the virtual currency for other goods and services must pay taxes for these transactions. Many short and medium term investors welcomed the move and shared their opinions on the vulnerabilities of Bitcoin trading across social channels.
Singapore government’s effort in promoting Singapore as a startup hub is generating interest. Conversations around startups make up 20 per cent of the social discussions. Netizens shared news and information about operations and managing business functions within a startup. Startups in Singapore are particularly interested in the crowd-funding model, incorporating ecommerce in their services or creating an innovative tech product.
Commenting on the report finding, Ashok Patro, COO, ThoughtBuzz said, “Companies in the BFSI sector cannot operate in the traditional way anymore. They need to listen, understand and engage with customers across social channels to tap Young Singapore. As our study reveals, players that are not embracing social channels are losing the opportunity to learn about their customers. These constitute major indicators for consumer needs, opinions on existing products and services, overall market sentiment and missing out on this is simply asking to fail.”
