How much do you know about cryptocurrency? If the answer is, “Not a lot,” you’re not alone.
A recent survey of 1,000 people across the U.S., Mexico and Brazil showed that 98% of people don’t understand basic crypto concepts. For instance, 90% didn’t know that the Bitcoin supply is capped at 21 million. Equal numbers didn’t understand stablecoins, either.
What’s worse, 98% of people scored less than 60% (under 65 is traditionally considered a failing grade in school) on a 17-question quiz about crypto, The Crypto Literacy Survey. Administered by YouGov, the survey was part of a report by CryptoLiteracy.org, an initiative led by Coinme, CoinDesk, and Digital Currency Group, Blockworks reported.
The survey highlighted the need for crypto education, as bitcoin has emerged as a recognized asset class and is growing in prevalence. Coinme is the first state-licensed bitcoin ATM company in the U.S. The company also expanded to include digital wallet and private client services. “Now that we have the largest licensed on-ramp in the U.S., we can really double down on efforts to help educate the broad population in order to understand how to utilize digital currency,” said Coinme CEO and co-founder Neil Bergquist in an article published by Blockworks.
Bergquist pointed out that he was most surprised that people didn’t understand Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million, noting that it is one of its “greatest value propositions.” Twenty-one percent of Americans thought Bitcoin supply was “infinite,” while 62% couldn’t even take a guess at the maximum supply. Additionally, only 40% of people understood what determines Bitcoin’s price at any given moment.
While 30% of Brazilians and 28% of Mexicans said they intend to purchase or sell crypto in the next six months, only 12% of Americans said the same. However, 17% of Americans surveyed already own crypto, versus 15% of Brazilians and 14% of Mexicans. Two-thirds of respondents across the three countries said they do not believe it’s easy to purchase cryptocurrency.
“I agree that people have a long way to go on educating themselves about crypto, but the good news is they are working hard to get there,” Matthew Hougan, chief investment officer of Bitwise Asset Management, told Blockworks. “I suspect these statistics will change rapidly over the coming months and years.”