El Salvador has made world news with the controversial introduction of Bitcoin (BTC) by its president as legal tender, a measure that has provoked dissent from many local citizens and went greeted with skepticism by the International Monetary Fund. A new survey suggests that despite these developments, most Salvadorans still know little about the former cryptocurrency and even less about their smaller market cap counterparts.
Research by São Paulo-based agency Sherlock Communications suggests that 54% of Salvadoran respondents chose “none” when asked which cryptocurrency they know best from a list of five major currencies.
While 40% chose Bitcoin over the other listed cryptocurrencies: Ether (ETH), Bitcoin, Dogecoin (DOGE) and EOS, the survey did not seek to probe the level or depth of knowledge that these respondents have of the currency. In correspondence with Cointelegraph, Patrick O’Neill, Director of Sherlock Communications, commented:
“The data we collected from El Salvador made it very clear to us that there are very high levels of confusion regarding cryptocurrencies, surprising as that may sound under the circumstances.”
Responses to the other survey questions support this picture, with 46% of respondents choosing “none” when asked: “What gives you confidence to invest in cryptocurrencies? “18% responded that proper regulation would help them make the leap, and a similar number (16%) responded that access to more reliable and user-friendly platforms would make a difference.
When asked if a local economic crisis would make them more or less likely to trust cryptocurrencies, 35% answered “less likely” and 28% answered that a fiscal recession would make them “much less likely” to invest in the class. of assets. 24% had the opposite opinion, saying that an economic downturn would make them more interested in cryptocurrencies. Again, however, more respondents (41%) said that a poor economic climate would not make any difference to their relationship with cryptocurrencies.
Rather than outright hostility or enthusiasm, a plurality of respondents, 42%, said that recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender was neither a good nor a bad idea. Of the rest of the respondents, 31% in total had a more or less negative opinion of the measure, and 29% more or less positive.
Neutrality or indifference was again marked in responses to a question about the state of cryptocurrencies in the country, now and in the future. 32% had no opinion on the subject, and the next highest proportion of responses identified with the answer: “It is an issue that has no future here.”
In recent coverage of the Citizen resistance to the government’s new Bitcoin law, a resident told reporters that: “We do not know the currency. We don’t know where it comes from. We do not know if it will bring us profit or loss. We do not know anything”.
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