With online giants like Amazon entering the arena and skepticism surrounding the value of Bitcoin – virtual currency is a hard topic to ignore.
This morning Tapjoy, a leading mobile ad and monetization network, released the findings of a study commissioned to Yankee Group, “Redefining Virtual Currency” that examines the $47.5B virtual currency market and how mobile plays a role in the developing virtual economy.
The study found that one in five mobile device owners engage with advertising in exchange for virtual rewards or premium content on a daily basis and nearly 50 percent do so monthly.
Key findings of the report show that the virtual currency economy, currently worth an estimated $47.5 billion, is projected to grow to $55.4 billion by 2017 with advertising engagements, the fastest growing segment, projected to grow to nearly $900 million in the same timeframe.
Mobile users are also now more willing than ever to opt-in.
As it turns out, when given the option, smartphone users prefer engaging with ads (67 percent) for content to paying (39 percent). Seventy-three percent of tablet users are willing to watch ads versus 46 percent willing to pay.
To learn more, check out this fantastic and informative blog post over at Tapjoy.