A research report by financial services and digital payments platform, Block Inc has found a growing awareness of Bitcoin worldwide which bodes well for adoption plans. The research also found a lack of correct information to be a major barrier to adoption.
The company co-founded by former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey reported last month that it had recorded $1.73 billion in Bitcoin sales through its Cash App in the first quarter of 2022 and Block Inc intends to contribute to awareness campaigns to boost usage and adoption further.
Block Inc partnered with a market research consultancy firm known as Wakefield Research to approach 9,500 individuals from 14 countries around the world. The respondents were grouped by region into The Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
According to the findings, higher-income earners see Bitcoin as a tool for investment while those who earn less are more focused on the utility Bitcoin provides as a network to move money in a more efficient and reliable way.
The survey also discovered that a person’s degree of cryptocurrency knowledge (or at least how much they believe they know) is the biggest predictor of whether they will buy Bitcoin in the coming year.
41% of those with “fair to expert” crypto expertise said they were likely to buy Bitcoin in the coming year, compared to 7.9% of those who don’t know anything about it or have very limited knowledge.
Women in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Asia Pacific have a better understanding of Bitcoin than women in the Americas and have expert levels of knowledge at higher rates than men regarding crypto.
People from countries that have gone through periods of hyperinflation were also found to be significantly more optimistic about Bitcoin’s future compared to those living in countries with relatively stable monetary and payment systems.
While the survey was carried out in January and February before major market events like the recent drops in the Bitcoin price and TerraUSD losing its peg, Block Economist Felipe Chacon expects the main reason for low engagement with cryptocurrencies is still around knowledge.
51% of respondents said the main reason they do not buy Bitcoin is that they “don’t know enough about it” while other major reasons like cybersecurity and theft risks had 32% worried whereas price volatility was the main concern for 30%.
Chacon pointed out, “Given that the biggest chunk of people just don’t know enough about it or haven’t heard much about cryptocurrencies in general or bitcoin specifically, I would guess that a lot of people have been fairly insulated from recent price movements.”
Nigeria stood out as one of the most optimistic countries about Bitcoin’s future alongside India, Vietnam and Argentina. It is worth noting that these countries also recorded the highest levels of crypto knowledge among respondents.
In 13 years of existence, Bitcoin has pulled off an impressive feat of climbing to become one of the top 10 largest base monies in the world but there is still a lot more education to be done as we transition to the digital Web3 age.