48% of Brazilians Support Making Bitcoin Their Official Currency

A recent poll from Sherlock Communications has found that nearly half of Brazilians agree that Bitcoin should be adopted as the currency of the country, following in the footsteps of El Salvador.

Brazilians Bullish for Bitcoin

As reported by Valor Investe, the study shows 48% of Brazilians in support of Bitcoin as national currency (17% strong support, 31% moderate support). In contrast, only 21% rejected the idea (9% strong rejection, 12% moderate rejection). The other 30% of respondents were indifferent on the matter.

The survey was carried out through the online research platform Toluna and studied support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency across various other Central and South American countries. Those included Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Mexico. Of all the aforementioned regions, Brazilians showed the most support for the primary cryptocurrency.

“Brazilians were the biggest advocates of crypto-recognition in the region, with 56% supporting El Salvador’s approach and 48% saying they want Brazil to adopt it as well,” says the study.

Notably, Brazilians’ interest seems to be uniquely concentrated on Bitcoin. BTC was by far the most notorious among those polled, with 92% recognizing it. Meanwhile, only 31% and 30% of respondents knew of Ethereum and Litecoin, respectively – two of the most popular altcoins on the market.

Bitcoin: Risky or Secure?

Despite common media depictions of Bitcoin as a ‘risky’ investment, Brazilian support for it rests on the exact opposite assumption. When asked about their reasons for investing in cryptocurrencies, 39% of respondents cite “protection against inflation and financial instability” as a contributing factor. Other major reasons include diversifying investments (55%) and following technology trends (37%).

This would be in line with the views of the El Salvadoran government, which has repeatedly been purchasing hundreds of Bitcoin at a time in the last few days. President Nayib Bukele remains confident that his decision to invest and adopt Bitcoin as legal tender will benefit his people and move the country forward. This is in opposition to the opinions of both JP Morgan and the World Bank.

Luiz Eduardo Abreu Haddad, a Sherlock bank consultant, recognizes the importance of El Salvador’s first step in guiding the views and actions of neighboring countries regarding Bitcoin:

“The El Salvador experiment could become a great reference for Latin American countries on how to incorporate blockchain and cryptocurrencies into their economies and generate well-being for their citizens.”

While Brazilians seem more open-minded toward BTC adoption, Americans are not on the same page. Another recent study determined that only 27% would support it if the US legalizes bitcoin.