The American company Edelman interviewed more than 34,000 people for the study. A total of 76% of the surveyed users know very little about cryptocurrencies or blockchain technology.
Edelman, an American public relations and marketing consulting firm, published a survey on user confidence in cryptocurrencies.
The online survey started with an interview with more than 34,000 people in 28 different markets. The company collected the data from October 19th to November 18th, 2019. Some of the surveyed countries were Italy, China, Spain, Canada, Germany, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, and Colombia.
One of the central points of the study concluded that the population should receive more education about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. This is because 34% of the respondents reported not knowing anything about the subject, and 42% said that they knew very little. This motivated Edelman to ask the respondents whether they believed that the impact of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology would be greater with the increase in education on the subject.
According to the answers to this question, 71% of respondents believe that higher levels of information about cryptocurrencies would have a positive impact. Edelman notes that the more informed users are about cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, the more they can see its potential for the future.
Education as the Focus of Efforts
On the other hand, the users could choose from different options to solve the problem of low levels of information on the subject. The first four solutions that they chose were: indicating their disadvantages, indicating their benefits, creating a code of ethics, and creating educational and training programs.
In this way, the Edelman study established completing four essential points to increase users’ confidence in cryptocurrencies. The first point is “addressing the benefits and risks of innovation.” The respondents said that knowing the advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology could motivate new users to learn more about the subject.
The second point is “strengthening education and awareness.” Even though there are already university studies in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies in several parts of the world, the general population has very scarce knowledge of the subject. The third point is “demonstrating their utility and positive social impact,” since knowing what cryptocurrencies are for and how they would help the society is one of the reasons that informed people see potential in the technology.
The fourth point has to do with “committing to an industry code of ethics to create confidence.” As it is a very recent market, less experienced users are afraid that no regulation provides them with peace of mind as they enter the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
The Bitcoin exchange bitFlyer Europe published the results of its second crypto-confidence index. To conduct this survey, the bitFlyer team interviewed 10,000 people in 10 European countries. The study indicated that users in Spain and several other countries in Europe increasingly trust Bitcoin.
By Willmen Blanco
