Revealed: What the British Public Really Think about Cryptocurrencies

A new poll suggests that 41% of Britons think investing in cryptocurrency is as risky as gaining exposure to the stock market.

Data science firm Piplsay surveyed 6,070 people across the U.K. after Tesla announced that it had bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

Some 23% of those questioned said that they plan to invest in cryptocurrency this year, while 42% believe it is safe to do so.

Here’s another interesting statistic: 46% of Britons believe that big brands should start accepting digital assets as a form of payment. That’s good news for the likes of PayPal and Mastercard, which have prioritized supporting crypto — and it could encourage other firms to follow suit.

Despite the promising adoption statistics, hurdles do remain if cryptocurrencies are going to become a mainstay of the global economy. Just 18% of those polled said that they understand digital assets quite well, with 37% admitting they don’t know how the likes of Bitcoin and Ether work at all.

Piplsay’s poll also suggests that 57% of Britons aren’t interested in investing in crypto, and 31% believe that it isn’t safe. Their biggest concerns include a fear of hacking or fraud, how there’s a lack of regulation in the space, and how volatile digital assets can be.

And, perhaps unsurprisingly, Gen Zers and millennials are far more likely to understand and regard cryptocurrency as safe than Generation X is.

Research by the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority — released last June — suggests that 1.9 million adults owned cryptocurrencies at the time, with 75% of them holding less than £1,000 ($1,400). The regulator said:

“The most popular reason for consumers buying cryptocurrencies was as ‘as a gamble that could make or lose money’, acknowledging that prices are volatile.”

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