The fall in world markets has not stopped Europeans from trusting Bitcoin. According to a survey, 1 in 9 Europeans believes that Bitcoin will integrate into society as a currency, according to a survey.
BitFlyer Europe is the European branch of one of the world’s largest exchange houses, in terms of cryptocurrency trading volume. BitFlyer’s team surveyed 10,000 people in 10 European countries. The survey, called “Crypto-Confidence-Index”, has been done annually since March 2019, so this is its second edition. The survey conducted in 2020 shows evidence that Europeans’ confidence in Bitcoin is progressively increasing.
To create the confidence index, BitFlyer surveyed 1,000 people in each of the 10 countries. Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom were the countries under study. Each respondent answered the same question: “Do you think Bitcoin will continue to exist in 10 years?”
The answers that respondents could select were the following: yes, in conventional use as currency; yes, but as an investment or security; yes, but it will only have specific uses; yes, but I have no idea how; no, but there will be other forms of encryption; no, something new will take its place; no, cryptocurrencies will not exist.
Confidence Increases Slowly but Steadily
Despite this year’s survey being conducted at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, BitFlyer notes that Europeans’ confidence in cryptocurrencies has increased by 3%, compared to 2019.
Italy leads the 2020 survey among the most optimistic countries regarding the future of cryptocurrencies. Italy’s confidence last year was 68%, while in 2020 it increased to 72%. BitFlyer highlights that these results were surprising as Italy has been one of the most affected countries due to the pandemic.
BitFlyer Europe COO Andy Bryant is pleased with these results, which indicate a slow but steady progression of cryptocurrencies in the general consciousness. He said that this is an achievement for digital currencies despite the difficult economic times that humanity is facing.
Poland and the Netherlands are in second place among the most optimistic countries, according to the confidence index. According to the study, each of them obtained 67% in 2019, while the current percentage is 70%. Therefore, both countries had an increase of 3%, according to the index.
In the case of Spain, which was in fourth place with 66% in 2019, it is in third place with 68% in 2020. That represents an increase of 2%. On the other hand, Norway and the United Kingdom were the only countries where the confidence index decreased. The former went from 73% to 67%, while the latter fell by 1%.
The survey also revealed that 1 in 9 Europeans believe that Bitcoin will fully integrate into society as a currency in 10 years. However, although a quarter of Europeans believe that cryptocurrencies will continue to exist in 10 years, most do not know how they should use them.
Europe recently broke records in terms of trading volume on LocalBitcoins. Although this is related to COVID-19, BitFlyer’s study shows that adoption on the continent has been increasing despite the pandemic.
By Alexander Salazar
