Opportunity surveyed a sample of it's more than 2,000,000 members worldwide to learn more about the growing popularity of Bitcoin, the world's leading cryptocurrency, and the impact it is having on the business community.
Overview
Bitcoin, the popular cryptocurrency that has dominated headlines in recent weeks, recently surpassed a value of $11,000 per coin* - making it the fastest growing asset in the world this year and causing many people in the business community to take note. In short, Bitcoin is a digital currency, also known as a cryptocurrency, that emerged after the financial crisis and is not underpinned by a central bank. It allows people to bypass banks and traditional payment methods for goods and services. With the popularity of Bitcoin increasing each passing day, the Opportunity data science team decided it was time to survey our more than 2,000,000 business professionals to better understand how the cryptocurrency is being received (and used) around the world.
BTC value = $11,800 at the time of this post
Below is a breakdown of those who responded to the survey followed by our findings.
An overall breakdown of respondents
Gender:
Male86% Female14%
Ages:
18-34 10%
35-44 23%
45-60 48%
60+ 19%
Locations:
USA30%
Europe24%
India18%
Middle East10%
South America6%
Asia6%
Other6%
What We Found:
What we found is that nearly everyone who was surveyed has now heard of Bitcoin (90%) with nearly half having heard about it within the past 3 years. Surprisingly only a small percentage (9%) only recently heard about Bitcoin - with most having heard about it 2-3 years ago. The majoirty of those who have heard of Bitcoin however, are unable to explain how Bitcoin works. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being an expert in Bitcoin), the average respondent viewed themselves as a 5.28 - meaning they feel they aren't totally in the dark, but also do not feel very knowledgeable. Professionals in India scored the highest on familiarity with Bitcon with an average score of 6.4 on the range of experience, followed by professionals in the United States who scored 4.9. Professionals in Asia scored the lowest with a 4.0 level of understanding of how the currency works. Differences between genders also exist as Male understanding of Bitcoin averaged 5.5 versus the average Female score of 3.83. Males were reportedly more bullish about the future of Bitcoin than Females, with 59% believing the cryptocurrency will continue to thrive and increase in value, versus 69% of Females who view the future of Bitcoin negatively describing it as a pyramid schme and predicting it will lose value within the next year.
A very small percentage (7%) claim to have ever received a Bitcoin, and of that 7%, nearly 60% said that the process of using Bitcoin is somewhat/very challenging. Taken one step further, only 7% of the people who have acquired a Bitcoin have used it for an actual purchase. And of that 7%, zero (0%) when asked, revealed what they purchased with their Bitcoin - calling into question many of the concerns authorities and governments have over the use of Bitcoin for illegal activites such as the purchase of drugs, illegal firearms, and money laundering.
Percentage of respondents who have heard of Bitcoin
Yes 90%
No 10%
Year when respondent first heard of Bitcoin
2009 15%
2010 9%
2011 9%
2012 5%
2013 7%
2014 9%
2015 20%
2016 16%
2017 9%
Percentage of respondents who have purchased or acquired Bitcoin
Own Bitcoin 8%
Do not own Bitcoin 92%
Opinion about the future of Bitcoin
It will survive and grow 44%
Something else will replace it 21%
It's a pyramid scheme that will implode 20%
Other 15%
Predictions about the value of Bitcoin over the next year:
$15,000+20%
$10,000 - $15,000 40%
$5,000 - $10,000 19%
$1,000 - $5,000 6%
$<1,000 14%
$0 3%
Conclusion
The hype surrounding Bitcoin is real and has made it's way into the minds of business professionals around the world over the past few years. However, although the vast majority of professionals have heard of Bitcoin, less than half of them have a real understanding of what it is and how it works. An even smaller percentage of professionals have participated in acquiring or purchasing the popular cryptocurrency. Yet despite their lack of actual experience using Bitcoin, professionals by and large view the future of the popular cryptocurrency positively believing the new asset class will continue to increase in value and popularity over the next year.
Datasource: Opportunity
Opportunity shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described or information contained on these pages. The data, information and related graphics are not legal documents and are not intended to be used as such. Opportunity gives no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, utility or completeness of this information.