[2019-03-08] 73% of UK Consumers Say They Don’t Know What Cryptocurrency Is

Lanatsa

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Quote from: BitHodler on March 10, 2019, 06:43:05 AM

Quote from: Lanatsa on March 09, 2019, 06:43:04 PM

it isnt really that hard to understand on what it is all about.

It actually is. Currently the market is so saturated with altcoins, that people don't care about decentralization, and they probably never have in the first place, but only about what ICO project is the next one to invest in.

From a community focused on decentralization we have gone to a community focused on gains. It doesn't matter how trashy a certain project is, all people care about are how hard something can pump. Sad reality.

Well said which is actually the reality we are facing on.Inspite to look on its true usage which is decentralization but people do always look after on how they do make profits out of this shitty projects currently.

But there would really be some people who do look into its true purpose rather than on the profit side but well numbers aren't really too big compared to those who seek money.

squatter

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STOP SNITCHIN'

Quote from: BitHodler on March 10, 2019, 06:43:05 AM

Currently the market is so saturated with altcoins, that people don't care about decentralization, and they probably never have in the first place, but only about what ICO project is the next one to invest in.

From a community focused on decentralization we have gone to a community focused on gains. It doesn't matter how trashy a certain project is, all people care about are how hard something can pump. Sad reality.

Perhaps, but it's also a reality we should have expected. The design of Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies incorporates scarcity. You can't have a scarce commodity undergoing exponential growth in usage without the price being driven to the moon. In that context, with so much money pouring into the markets, it's only reasonable to expect a lot of greed. That's just human nature right there.

It's not necessarily a bad thing. Greed is a strong motivator for adoption.

I was drawn in by greed myself in 2013, and I was chasing altcoins back then because "Bitcoin was too expensive." I think a lot of people who came to get rich end up getting fleeced after the bubble pops and eventually leave. The ones that stick around do so because of an appreciation for the technology and design.

Betwrong

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Quote from: stompix on March 11, 2019, 09:13:42 AM

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Bitcoin adoption is growing but I think the rate at which does is declining especially if we look at txs not price.

I'm not sure if there is a direct correlation between the number of additional transactions per day and the number of new adopters. One trader can make dozens of txs per day, while a new adopter can make just one or two per month. Thus when a hundred of traders leaves the field and, at the same time, a couple of thousands new adopters join the game, we can still see a significant decline in the number of txs.

Like you, I think that Bitcoin adoption is growing. Only I don't think we can estimate the rate looking at the number of txs.

stompix

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Quote from: buwaytress on March 11, 2019, 10:14:42 AM

I'm willing to put some money down that if the entire population of active forum members were tasked to describe what cryptocurrency is in a Multiple Choice Question, we'd be underestimating how many people would get it wrong.

Now this would be a fun topic in BD or B&H, and somehow I have a feeling were not going to like the results.

And the more I think about it the more I really want to do it, but I need some time to think of some a bit tricky questions, with the perspective of some merit we might have a better view on how things stand than those useless surveys. The hard way would be to prevent users from cheating.

buwaytress

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I'm willing to put some money down that if the entire population of active forum members were tasked to describe what cryptocurrency is in a Multiple Choice Question, we'd be underestimating how many people would get it wrong. I know even I'm not the most technically knowledgeable Bitcoiner, but we'd see those numbers plunge as we take more steps towards actual use of Bitcoin.

So yes, even among the 27% who said they did know of cryptocurrency, I'm not sure a lot do know what it is.

However you want to see the numbers, mainstream adoption isn't here yet. It's either within sight, or in the distant horizon. And that... like some of you say, it perfectly normal and perfectly fine.

gentlemand

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Quote from: BitHodler on March 11, 2019, 10:02:17 AM

Venezuela has been quite an interesting test if you ask me. It isn't a country that affects the world economy in any way, but locally the crisis has hit every inch of the economy and Bitcoin can now be put to the test as safe haven.

Good thing is that the volumes have been increasing there, but the negative side is that there currently is a massive power blackout which affects those who try to utilize Bitcoin as we speak. That whole country seems to be rotten to its core unfortunately.

Blockstream's satellite would be a great way to work around internet blackouts or censorship, but you can't do much to work around power blackouts unless you are generating your own power one way or another.

Dollar bills and lumps of gold are currently en vogue there. And even they may become irrelevant to people stuck inside if it drags on for much longer. Even if it does get up and running he or she who has the most access to food and medicine is king. Any form of money is useless if there's no supply of what you need to buy with it.

BitHodler

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Quote from: gentlemand on March 10, 2019, 06:34:32 PM

It is what it is. There are two potential outcomes. Decentralisation never gets put to the test and people carry on chasing money. Disheartening but fine. Or they get a brutal lesson in why it counts and tons of people get wiped out in the process. That's bad for them, but potentially vital for everyone else.

Venezuela has been quite an interesting test if you ask me. It isn't a country that affects the world economy in any way, but locally the crisis has hit every inch of the economy and Bitcoin can now be put to the test as safe haven.

Good thing is that the volumes have been increasing there, but the negative side is that there currently is a massive power blackout which affects those who try to utilize Bitcoin as we speak. That whole country seems to be rotten to its core unfortunately.

Blockstream's satellite would be a great way to work around internet blackouts or censorship, but you can't do much to work around power blackouts unless you are generating your own power one way or another.

stompix

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Quote from: o_e_l_e_o on March 11, 2019, 04:06:32 AM

The groundwork for the internet was built in the late 60s and early 70s. TCP/IP was standardized in 1982. But it took until the mid 90s until the internet was easily accessible and regularly used by the average person. The first mobile phone was built in 1973, but the first commercially available mobile phone wasn't released in 1983, and it was well in to the late 90s until mobile phones were becoming commonplace amongst the general population.

All of those needed physical infrastructure, you need to build phone lines, lay down cables, and...people needed to buy a phone or a computer. For example, it took almost one year on the waiting list for my family to get a phone line.
A real comparison would be PP and even with this, you would have to take into account the different situation in 1998 and 2009 when the percentage of people using the internet and making online purchases boomed.

Bitcoin adoption is growing but I think the rate at which does is declining especially if we look at txs not price.

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: hatshepsut93 on March 10, 2019, 03:22:28 PM

-snip-

The groundwork for the internet was built in the late 60s and early 70s. TCP/IP was standardized in 1982. But it took until the mid 90s until the internet was easily accessible and regularly used by the average person. The first mobile phone was built in 1973, but the first commercially available mobile phone wasn't released in 1983, and it was well in to the late 90s until mobile phones were becoming commonplace amongst the general population. In the 10 years since the genesis block, we've seen pretty steady development, growth and adoption. I'm bullish for the next 10 years.

I do agree with your point that the majority of people are all too happy to hand over the private data in exchange for using some product - Facebook being the prime example. However, with all the stories about governments and ISPs spying, and Facebook selling client data to anyone they want, we know that general opinion is slowly shifting. Ad-blocking and anti-tracking is increasing. VPN use is increasing. People are slowly realizing that privacy is more important than sharing pictures of your meals on Instagram.

gentlemand

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Quote from: BitHodler on March 10, 2019, 06:43:05 AM

It actually is. Currently the market is so saturated with altcoins, that people don't care about decentralization, and they probably never have in the first place, but only about what ICO project is the next one to invest in.

From a community focused on decentralization we have gone to a community focused on gains. It doesn't matter how trashy a certain project is, all people care about are how hard something can pump. Sad reality.

It is what it is. There are two potential outcomes. Decentralisation never gets put to the test and people carry on chasing money. Disheartening but fine. Or they get a brutal lesson in why it counts and tons of people get wiped out in the process. That's bad for them, but potentially vital for everyone else.

hatshepsut93

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Do you guys think this is good or bad for Bitcoin? On one hand it means that there is still a lot of room for adoption by new users, on the other hand, it's a sign that even after 10 years Bitcoin remains in obscurity and struggles to achieve the mass adoption that many people seem to be waiting for. I personally even stopped believing that Bitcoin will ever be widely popular, and I think it will exist as a niche product for people who care about its values. It's similar to many other software, like OS's or browsers, where majority of the people uses corporate solutions even though they violate user privacy, while only a minority uses free and open source products.

BitHodler

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Quote from: Lanatsa on March 09, 2019, 06:43:04 PM

it isnt really that hard to understand on what it is all about.

It actually is. Currently the market is so saturated with altcoins, that people don't care about decentralization, and they probably never have in the first place, but only about what ICO project is the next one to invest in.

From a community focused on decentralization we have gone to a community focused on gains. It doesn't matter how trashy a certain project is, all people care about are how hard something can pump. Sad reality.

davis196

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This survey proves that nothing changed in the last 3 years,in terms of overall awareness regarding cryptocurrencies.What would be the bitcoin price if this persentage decreased to 50 or even 30%?
More awareness means that a part of the people,who know and understand what crypto is,might eventually buy some coins.

Lanatsa

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Quote from: pixie85 on March 09, 2019, 04:26:44 PM

It shows how early we got in. When you feel like you're not an early adopter think of this survey.

I don't see anything special about it until there's a survey made for every other EU country for us to be able to compare them.
When I talk to people I feel like they heard of it but have no idea what it is. Some say that it's some Internet collectible or something like loyalty points.

Thats why we are still lucky to know this kind of privilege earlier compared to them but overall its already 10 years passed but they havent still known about crypto
but well its never been too late to know about crypto and it isnt really that hard to understand on what it is all about. 73% doesnt know about crypto and i doubt there
would be still some countries or places which do have more.

o_e_l_e_o

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Quote from: 1Referee on March 09, 2019, 03:58:21 PM

Spot on. It all comes down to how easy something is to use. Give people an easy to understand app that looks good, and people use Bitcoin without any problems.

The more detailed study report (which you can find here: https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/research/cryptoassets-ownership-attitudes-uk-consumer-survey-research-report.pdf) pretty much agrees with you. The reasons for not buying included "lack of knowledge on how cryptocurrencies work" at 23%, "lack of knowledge on how to buy" at 20%, and "too difficult or complex to buy" at 8%. The only reason listed higher was that it is too risky to buy cryptocurrencies due to price fluctuations.

Quote from: pixie85 on March 09, 2019, 04:26:44 PM

It shows how early we got in. When you feel like you're not an early adopter think of this survey.

With the 3% who had bought cryptocurrencies, around half had already sold, and of the remaining population only 7% said they were thinking about buying in the future. There's still a long way to go yet.

pixie85

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It shows how early we got in. When you feel like you're not an early adopter think of this survey.

I don't see anything special about it until there's a survey made for every other EU country for us to be able to compare them.
When I talk to people I feel like they heard of it but have no idea what it is. Some say that it's some Internet collectible or something like loyalty points.

Theb

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Found this map chart on another news article showing the spread of where the 2,132 people where surveyed and it comes to no surprise that London and most of the Eastern regions are the ones who have successfully defined what cryptocurrencies are as they also have the most number of Bitcoin ATMs available in the country. Although the numbers aren't impressively high this might be brought up due to a lot of factors involving their government and crypto related businesses not being highly active on spreading the industry unlike how countries like Japan and Korea do it with their citizens.

1Referee

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Quote from: Betwrong on March 09, 2019, 11:16:59 AM

We are still far off from the mass adoption, although I personally don't think that people should understand how things work to be able to use them. Do people know how smartphones work?

Spot on. It all comes down to how easy something is to use. Give people an easy to understand app that looks good, and people use Bitcoin without any problems. For real, what functions other than send and receive will most average people use anyway? It can't be that hard to figure out how to do that, the rest is pretty much irrelevant.

The only thing that does somewhat concern me is how to make it easier for people to take security and offline backup of seeds joe-ready. If you mess up with centralized payment services, you are very likely going to get your money back. If you mess up with Bitcoin, you're pretty much toasted.

In the end, owning Bitcoin isn't something serious people like to talk about. If someone I don't know asks me if I own Bitcoin, I'm more inclined to say no.

gentlemand

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Quote from: Lucius on March 08, 2019, 08:50:15 AM

For me personally quite astonishing information, given the fact that it is one of the most developed countries in the world or in top 5 largest world economy. I assume the information is available to people, but maybe UK media is not forcing too much things which are related to cryptocurrency? Is it factor of relatively favorable financial security in the world's top countries reason why people are not overly interested is something like bitcoin?

Data shows that UK have 200+ crypto ATMs at this moment, and it is on 4 place by number of ATMs in the world.

Until very recently there was no exchange in the UK. You had to wire money to some fuckhole bank in Eastern Europe or do P2P. No crypto business could keep a bank account in the UK. They still can't unless they're Coinbase. Britain's way behind compared to the US and plenty of other countries.

Coinbase implemented the first domestic banking for the first time long after the bubble pop.

3% seems far, far too high to me. That's nearly two million people. I'd be impressed if it was a fifth or a tenth of that. I've only ever met or overheard one person in the wild talking about it.

veleten

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Quote from: NeuroticFish on March 09, 2019, 01:57:51 PM

I find the news of low quality, they missed (with intention or not) some interesting points from the original report.

First miss: they've asked only the 16+ brits. It's important, since I expect more 14-16 y.o. know about this than 60+

Second: "Nearly three in four of those surveyed hadn’t heard of cryptocurrencies or were unable to define what they are correctly." The fact you cannot define properly what's that is different from not hearing about them. Quite misleading imho. The "never heard of it" is 58% which sounds more "normal".

Also it depends on how the question looked like. Many may have heard of Bitcoin, but not about cryptocurrencies (tough word for many).

Imho these things should clearly be there in a news article in a crypto-focused newspaper.

I tend to not pay too much attention to the polls like that since they depend on both how you ask the questions and who you ask the questions
same question , as mentioned above , "have you heard of it" results in a 50% + - , which is way more accurate IMHO
once I asked my friends and relatives , out of interest , if they knew what bitcoin was and 90% of them said that they heard about it
when I tried to get them explain what bitcoin was , only about 20% were able to , rest could not
once bitcoin is out there, in everyday's lifes and on TV (more than now) I expect the figures to be much higher

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