Getting Bitcoin into the hands of consumers and businesses around the world has proven to be an uphill battle. This is not entirely unexpected, as the general population has a rather negative image of cryptocurrency as a whole. Most people still have no idea what it is, and the number of individuals who think Bitcoin and consorts are Ponzi Schemes remains alarmingly high.
Education, Education, Education
It has to be said, the results of this poll on “cryptocurrency knowledge’ come from a Torrent website.Since not everyone in the world knows what torrents are, these samples may not represent the entire truth. That Said, the results seem to be in line with how most people see cryptocurrency today.
As was to be expected, nearly half of all registered voters belong to camp ‘i have no idea what cryptocurrency is”. Not surprising by any means, as most people don’t bother looking further than their wallet and bank account. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but there is a wide world of opportunities waiting to be explored.
At the same time, there are still plenty of people who think Bitcoin is a Ponzi Scheme. Creating money on the internet with no tangible backing is not legal, to most people. Then again, most of these people have no clue what a free market model is either. In this day and age, anything with a financial value not controlled by a bank or government is an absolute mystery.
Similar to what we have seen in the Bitcoin Survey 2016, some people use cryptocurrency regularly, or even think it is the future. These numbers remain fairly small, though, but that is only normal. Without proper educational efforts, people will never care about Bitcoin as a currency, investment vehicle, or way to store value.
So far, educational efforts in the cryptocurrency space have been lacklustre at best. Conferences are already too advanced for people who have no knowledge on cryptocurrency, and they are vastly overpriced as well. Meetup Groups are the closest initiative to education the ecosystem has to offer right now. Something will need to change if we want to change the public perception of cryptocurrency.
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