“In particular, Canadians who were young, male, employed, had a college degree, high household income, and relatively low financial literacy, were more likely to own Bitcoin.”

A Bank of Canada study has found that Bitcoiners are on average less financially literate than non-BTC holders are.

The study used data from four years of annual surveys from 2016 to 2020, and sample sizes range from 1,987 to 3,893 respondents.

The Bank of Canada’s full study is titled “Bitcoin Awareness, Ownership and Use: 2016-20” and was released on April 19. A key conclusion of the study was that:

“Bitcoin owners showed greater knowledge about the Bitcoin network than non-owners, although they scored lower on questions assessing financial knowledge.”

However, the financial literacy test found its bases on just three multiple-choice questions focused on interest rates, inflation, and understanding stocks and mutual funds. The three questions on Bitcoin focused on supply, the digital ledger, and whether or not the network is government-backed.

Given the limited number of questions, the idea that they can accurately measure someone’s financial knowledge is debatable. On the other hand, the questions are quite easy.

Researchers from the Bank of Canada highlighted that the “interplay between financial literacy and crypto-asset market participation” is important to explore, as there are many risks associated with the sector, which users can avoid through further education.

Bitcoiners

The data reveals that, over the four years, the average number of Bitcoin users fell into the demographic of young men between the ages of 18 and 34, with men accounting for at least twice as many as women each year. The gender gap has been a longstanding and widely reported topic in the short history of the cryptocurrency space.

“In general, the marginal effects are consistent with the descriptive results already discussed. We find that the probability of owning Bitcoin decreases with being female, older, and unemployed, but increases with education,” the report says.

As for a specific type of Bitcoin holder, the report suggests that educated young men who scored low in financial literacy but earned more than $70,000 were the most typical type:

“In particular, Canadians who were young, male, employed, had a college degree, high household income, and relatively low financial literacy were more likely to own Bitcoin.”

Non-Bitcoiners

At the other end of the spectrum, those who scored high on financial literacy were “more likely to be aware of Bitcoin, but less likely to own it.”

The reasons offered in the study for not owning Bitcoin that was most surveyed were not necessarily anti-Bitcoin; lack of understanding and satisfactory current payment methods were the main responses.

After those two reasons, the next highest reason each year was that respondents do not “trust a private currency that is not backed by a government.”

“We found that between 2018 and 2020, the level of Bitcoin awareness and ownership among Canadians remained stable: almost 90% of the population knew about Bitcoin, while only 5% owned it.”

Cointelegraph reported an individual survey from this study dubbed the “Cash Alternative Survey”, which suggested that Canadians with a lower level of financial understanding might be twice as likely to invest in cryptocurrencies.

By Audy Castaneda

Certain governments are using the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse to impose more controls on Bitcoin. There is a struggle between those who want to accumulate more power and those who want to decentralize it.

In early 2020, many users in Shanghai, terrified by the worst quarantine ever, followed the situation on social networks. The shock that this city gave the world did not seem enough, as many hungry people demanded their most basic rights.

Strict measures sought to decrease COVID-19 cases by eliminating the free movement of people around the city. However, some people were insensitive to that new situation, as if it did not matter.

Now the situation looks more controversial as the Internet allows real-time access to the pain of others through images of war and death. Many seem to have forgotten the war between Russia and Ukraine, in which many children die in their homes.

The callous and unconcerned seem to be blind to another virus that has sought to eliminate human rights for centuries. It is about authoritarianism, control, and power, which have kept many generations under their yoke.

The formation of an increasingly digitized world intensifies that situation to unsuspected levels. The citizens of Shanghai suffer from that disease, which keeps them captive in their homes while also stalking the communities.

It Is Crucial to Take Care of the Fate of the World

As this virus swarms more strongly, it is relevant to talk about Shanghai from the perspective of a bitcoiner. The topic is that of the principles that founded Bitcoin and made more people enter its community.

There is currently a struggle of forces that could determine the future of freedom. States strive to exert greater power over the people, such as the governments of China, Canada, and Russia.

Those governments tell people where to put their money, who to support, where to go, and who to meet. In other words, they seek to learn more about the private life of citizens to make decisions on it.

Social distancing helps protect the most vulnerable people, but killing pets and separating parents and children is unacceptable. Furthermore, converting entire buildings into temporary hospitals causes pain for those who have not had access to essential services for over a month.

A state should not affect the lives and rights of people, but that has been the history of the world for centuries. However, there is resistance among citizens toward those authoritarian schemes since humans also demand their freedom.

In an increasingly globalized world with access to the Internet, it is harder to stop the voices and discontent of citizens. That sentiment led to creating and strengthening Bitcoin as both a currency and an ideology.

The principles of Bitcoin oppose authoritarianism, as it returns control over finances to citizens. More people are demanding greater privacy, freedom, and shares of representative power, which they can find in the system embodied by Bitcoin.

Bitcoin is trading at around USD 39,366 and has accumulated a 5.3% loss in the last 24 hours. Its trading volume is above USD 49.30 billion, and its market capitalization is approximately USD 748.70 billion.

By Alexander Salazar