By Mark Ackman
Based on a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, many Americans don’t trust cryptocurrency. The survey collected responses from over 10,000 respondents aged 18 years and above. All the adults live in the US, and about 3/4th of them who were familiar with cryptocurrency said that they don’t feel confident about it.
Majority of Americans Lack Confidence in Crypto
Specifically, they said that the current methods to use, invest, or trade digital assets aren’t reliable and safe for users. Around 18 percent of respondents said that they feel somewhat confident in crypto. Meanwhile, only 6 percent said that they feel very or extremely confident, according to the results of the survey.
The results also showed variation based on respondents’ age. Around 66 percent of American adults under 50 who know about crypto aren’t so sure about its reliability and safety. Among adults over the age of 50, this percentage rises to 85 percent.
Few Crypto Traders Say That Investments Performed as Expected
Additionally, US-based crypto traders are of the opinion that their investments didn’t give them the returns they hoped for. In fact, 45 percent of respondents who were crypto traders said that their investments
In contrast, about 30 percent of traders said that investments performed as they expected, but only 15 percent said that they did better than they hoped.
Current State of the Crypto Market Causes a Lack of Confidence
Analysts theorize that low confidence in the crypto industry is due to how things are currently at a complicated stage. In 2022, the crypto market lost close to $1.4 trillion in value after FTX, one of the biggest crypto exchanges, collapsed. At the same time, numerous crypto firms shut down operations or filed for bankruptcy.
But in the midst of all this turmoil, Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency, is on a bullish spree as it breached the $30,000 resistance level for the first time in almost a year. Moreover, the recent banking crisis caused numerous investors to find a safe haven in crypto assets, which would serve as an alternative to government-issued currency.
Bitcoin Shows Impressive Growth
So far, Bitcoin’s price went up by around 80 percent this year. This growth has been quite impressive and led to the momentum that’s fueling the bull market. Nevertheless, it’s still less than half of the token’s all-time high price of $68,000 from November 2021.
But unlike other types of assets, the crypto market is based on consumer confidence. Because the value of digital assets isn’t derived from tangible assets, they’re only worth as much as people are willing to buy them for. Without fundamental backing, crypto is primarily driven by emotions.