Experience is the best teacher would be the best when it comes to learning so I agree with you that when they are doing the transactions themselves then it would be easier for them to understand it. When someone is just describing something to you especially when it comes to processes, we might not be able to immediately understand it because we cannot imagine it but when we do it with first-hand experience then it is easier to understand. Sometimes, a long description would just take a few second to perform.
I don't think understanding the concept of Cryptocurrencies is difficult, but most of the people get confused when they bear about it for the first time.
Yes, many of them are confused and some would even refuse to learn more from it and just immediately blurt out that it's a scam when they don't even know something about it. This is the effect of how the media delivers the report and cloud the perception of the people. When I want to teach someone about it then I would just wait for them to ask me because I don't want to waste my time on someone who would just immediately judge it.