A survey carried out by research service YouGov Omnibus shows that while cryptocurrency prices are tumbling, 48 percent of millennials have no problem switching to crypto as a primary currency.
The report, which collected answers from 1202 respondents from August 29-30, 2018, revealed that 79 percent of Americans are familiar with at least one cryptocurrency. Of this percentage, bitcoin is the most popular, with 71 percent of Americans saying that they have prior knowledge of the currency. Ethereum comes second place, as 13 percent of respondents have a form of knowledge about it.
Regarding gender, crypto awareness was higher among men than women for the top two cryptocurrencies mentioned. 27 percent of women say they have no knowledge of cryptos compared with 16 percent of men who chose the same answer.
Of those who have heard of bitcoin, 87 percent of respondents have never purchased, sold or mined it. About half of this group also chose the response option “I’m glad I didn’t buy Bitcoin earlier, and I don’t plan to buy it.”
Commenting on the results, Thomas Schouten, Head of Marketing at Lisk—a blockchain platform for coding in JavaScript—said, most people are still oblivious of the “massive potential” in the space, but the “awareness and openness to cryptocurrencies” by millennials is a significant factor in ensuring global adoption in the future.
“The survey shows us that the global leaders of tomorrow are aware and open to cryptocurrency but, saying that, there may still be some way to go in improving understanding of the real future utility of the underlying technology. Generally, most people seem unaware of the massive potential in this space and don’t realize that Bitcoin and Ethereum are only the tip of the iceberg,” he noted.
Despite the relatively small percentage of American respondents who expressed immediate interest in buying bitcoin, more than 36 percent of the respondents revealed their optimism in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which they believe would become widely accepted as a legal tender within the next decade. Millennials were also the most optimistic of the group, with 44 percent of respondents, compared to 34 percent of Gen X and just 29 percent of baby boomers who believe cryptocurrencies will be widely accepted as a means of transaction for legal purchases.
Nydia Zhang, Co-founder of Social Alpha Foundation, a not-for-profit grant making platform supporting blockchain technology for social good, said the survey is “reflective of current trends among millennials within the blockchain and crypto space.”
“Almost half (48%) of millennials say they would be interested in using cryptocurrency primarily. This is interesting and reinforces how the crypto community and culture has a bigger impact on the younger generation. Despite this, there is still a misperception surrounding cryptocurrencies and bitcoin, and this is evident by the 34% of people who think crypto will not become widely accepted in the near future,” he added.