New British Market Study Highlights Lack of Cryptocurrency Understanding

A recent cryptocurrency market survey undertaken by IW Capital has found that about 38 percent (20 million) of the British population doesn’t understand cryptocurrencies.

The London based private equity firm, which specializes in tax-efficient investments, also found that just five percent of cryptocurrency investors in the country have been able to turn a profit. The report puts the total number of British citizens that have invested in cryptocurrencies at approximately three million. Of this group, only five percent reached out for investment advice from financial advisors.

According to a report by Express UK, sentiments gathered from the surveyed population ranged from a lack of understanding to pessimistic outlooks on the future of cryptocurrencies as an investment product. Generally, digital currencies were deemed inferior to traditional types of investments. The study also revealed the widespread belief that the bitcoin bubble is imminent.

The surveyed sample group consisted of 2,007 respondents. Only seven percent of this group believed that cryptocurrencies had greater value than traditional stocks.

According to IW Capital CEO Luke Davis, the lack of initiative to find out more about the industry before investing was worrying. However, this was also an indicator that the general population was curious about cryptocurrencies and that there is ‘an appetite’ for investments in the new market.

COBINHOOD Survey Reaches Similar Conclusion

In January, another study carried out by COBINHOOD, a cryptocurrency exchange, found that most Americans had heard about cryptocurrencies. The poll involved 1,035 U.S. citizens and was conducted towards the end of December 2017.

Of the participants who took part in the survey, only 56 percent of consumers knew that it was a decentralized currency that could be used as a medium of exchange. Twenty-two percent of the sample guessed that it was some sort of a wallet used to make online purchases. Fourteen percent thought that cryptocurrency technology was linked to debit and credit cards. And, a sizeable seven percent believed it was backed by the government.

On knowledge about ICOs, most had no idea about the meaning of the acronym, with only 32 percent of respondents answering correctly. On where to buy digital currencies, 78 percent did not know how to go about it.

According to CEO Popo Chen, the cryptocurrency market is relatively new and most people do not know how to interact with it, despite it being a hot topic in the public domain. He also outlined his company’s mission to provide education to the average consumer about digital currencies and blockchain to make the industry more approachable.

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