Skrill, a digital payments platform, recently released a consumer survey that uncovered trends on the surge in crypto adoption and popularity.
According to the study, 38% of respondents have disclosed that they are open to cryptocurrency investments, or have already done so, while 84% have been exposed to at least one cryptocurrency, with 64% of respondents knowing what Bitcoin is.
“Cryptocurrency adoption has rapidly increased to heights nobody could have imagined even two years ago,” shared Rossen Yordanov, SVP for Skrill and Neteller at Paysafe, which handles both brands.
The survey was carried out between March and April 2021 by Sapio Research, a B2B and consumer market research agency, with respondent demographics based in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, Italy, Austria and Bulgaria across 8,111 participants.
According to the study, 20% of the respondents previously held or have owned Bitcoin. Ownership was shown to be higher among respondents from the U.S. and Bulgaria, with 24% and 36% rates, respectively. The study also showed that aside from Bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrencies included Bitcoin Cash (31% of consumers), Ethereum (22%) and Litecoin (19%). Ownership rates distributed among these cryptocurrencies was likewise in the same trend, with Bitcoin Cash (9%), Ethereum (8%), and Litecoin (7%) each finding reception among consumers.
The study also showcased that alternative cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum Classic, Dash, and Stellar were recognized by over 10% of respondents, despite ownership rates being less than 5% for each. Cryptocurrencies such as Chainlink, Tezos, Atom, EOS, OMG, Kyber Network, and 0x were also recognized by 8% of the respondents.
A further area of the study disclosed that consumer knowledge and understanding of cryptocurrencies as a financial asset remains sharply divided. Of the participants, 47% agreed that they do lack the knowledge to pursue crypto as an investment, while 38% considered crypto as a risky investment category. Belief that cryptocurrencies are a good investment for the future remains at 28%.
The highlight of the research was centered on the notion of cryptocurrency as a payment method. According to the study, up to 9% of the respondents have recently used (in a 30-day window) crypto as a payment method, with most users (97%) doing so for the first time in the past year.
Of those who did use crypto as a payment method in the past month, 59% said they are now using crypto on a regular basis for payments, while 44% claim that crypto is now their preferred payment method. Out of the 8,111 respondents, a majority still use a combination of debit cards (54%), credit cards (52%), and digital wallets (43%) for payments. The study has also shown that 23% of the surveyed consumers believe that crypto payments would someday become mainstream.
“We’re seeing that crypto is no longer a niche phenomenon, and our research provides further evidence of that, but there’s a significant opportunity to grow awareness about its potential for payments and transfers. We are working hard to make it easier for people everywhere to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with Skrill and NETELLER.” added Yordanov.
There is a noticeable uptick in consumer understanding, with trends pointing to a higher rate: about a third (29%) of the respondents shared that they now understand crypto better than they did the previous year, with about a quarter (26%) of the respondents saying that they are more likely to invest in crypto today, compared to their positions in the previous year.
Adoption and global regulation for cryptocurrencies has been steadily expanding. However, the study showed that there was no solid perspective as to what makes crypto useful or functional. Only 27% of respondents considered crypto as the future of payments, while 26% referred to crypto as a store of value, and 26% considered crypto as the future of banking. Other than investment or speculation, the use cases of crypto outside these areas were only utilized by 17% of the respondents.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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