One of the reasons most people don't know about crypto is the lack of crypto education. Most people who know about crypto are because they do research about this technology. We as crypto users should be responsible for spreading education and the benefits of using crypto. Starting from the closest people around us.
Though internet is one of the major source of information when it comes to crypto.
Many people don't have the access to internet but for those who knows how to use it, they are the ones that learned first about crypto.
And for those interested to know more, they can always read a lot of articles pertaining to crypto.
This forum alone can already give you tons of knowledge and information to all levels of crypto users - newbies, miners, developers, or just regular crypto users.
I think it is now easy to understand things if you will really devote time to study. We do have now google and everyone has the freedom to search what is unknown to him.
So those merchants, what they can do is give time to understand crypto if they want to know more about it, the benefits that they can derive and so on.
Exactly, although Google and YouTube have banned some content about cryptocurrencies. And what you say is true, example in Venezuela the light and internet fail a lot, so it is complicated that communities like these can obtain information.
At this point this is not so much an issue, since we are (sadly) heavy social media users, and most news in Venezuela moves this way (because no one trusts traditional media due to gov censorship). Of course social media is also full of garbage but that's how it is.
The term "cryptocurrencies" is hard to dig. Yes, some people use it because they want to appear "neutral" to the altcoins, and sometimes there is some altcoin foundation behind paying things (such as Dash aggressive marketing), so to not "look bad" they use this convoluted word.
But the word Bitcoin is a whole lot different. Try asking instead if they know what Bitcoin is, and the results might be different. Bitcoin as a brand has a much heavier impact, and has become a cultural phenomenon.
Note that is is just "knowing" what it is, accepting it directly as merchants are a whole different issue. And at what rate, because even if someone informally accepts it, it might be at a very unfair rate; this is a common practice here in hyperinflation land. 5% margin? No merchant here sells anything under 100% margin, and that's before adding the predicted inflation rate. Yes our economy is garbage and its one of the reasons it ended up in ruins. People's habits... For them State is there to protect their sick practices: The reason you have to obtain an import permit is what allows you to sell at twice the international price. Triple and more is also common, you would cry if you saw asic miners prices in the local market...