6% of Brazilians know that there are 21 million bitcoins. Photo: Pixabay.
Despite yesterday (31) bitcoin and blockchain completing 13 years and record prices for the currency, knowledge about digital currencies in Brazil and other markets such as the United States (USA) is very low. A survey showed that 99% of Brazilians are unaware of the subject of cryptocurrencies. In total, 98% of the more than 1,000 people who responded to the global survey do not know what it is about.
The research is from CryptoLiteracy.org, an initiative of Coinme, the same one that installed crypto boxes at Walmart in the USA. This mismatch between the price of cryptos and what is known about the subject proves, therefore, that digital currencies are still a niche.
In the question “what is the maximum offer of bitcoin”, 51% of Brazilians said they don’t know. For 36%, the amount is infinite, while 5% said it is 50 million and for 2% it is 15 million. Only 6% got the right answer, which is 21 million. The interest in BTC is due exactly mainly on account of this limited amount.
In the US, 9% gave the right answer and in Mexico, 5%. It is still possible to participate in the research, which remains open on the Cryptoliteracy website. According to Coindesk, which participates in the initiative, more than 1,000 people responded in the US and thousands in other countries.
Income is one of the factors that hinder the use of cryptocurrencies by Brazilians
Coindesk recalls that the results suggest that cryptocurrencies have not yet achieved the expected financial inclusion. And one of the reasons is the type of person who enters cryptos, generally young and with a good level of education and income. Low responses in countries like Brazil are also indicative.
One of the problems with this lack of inclusion is that buying and transacting with cryptocurrencies is not so simple for those who are not even bankrolled. First, it is necessary to understand at least a little about investments and Brazil, for example, suffers from a lack of financial education. Income here is also low for the majority of the population, who have no money left to invest at the end of the month. In fact, the month is longer than the income for many people.
It is also necessary to have electronic device and internet. And to top it off, know how to use these devices for investments. Also, bitcoin and other currencies are more stores of value than payment currencies. There are hardly any places with “bitcoin accepted” or other cryptocurrency signs. The barriers for Brazilians to use cryptocurrencies are, therefore, too many to expect high financial inclusion through digital currencies.
Every week this month, the site will talk about a subject about crypto and has educational material on the subject.