Americans divided over cryptocurrencies, new research

79% of Americans are familiar with at least one kind of cryptocurrency, according to new research from YouGov Omnibus involving 1,202 people.

By far the most well-known is Bitcoin, with 71% of people saying they’ve heard of it. Next up is Ether/Ethereum (13%). Of those who are aware of Bitcoin, 87% have had no interaction with it. 49% in this group say, “I’m glad I didn’t buy Bitcoin earlier, and I don’t plan to buy it,” while 15% say, “I wish I had bought Bitcoin earlier, but I feel like it’s too late now.”

Although relatively few people have any immediate plans to buy Bitcoin, 36% of those surveyed think that cryptocurrencies will become widely accepted as a means of transaction for legal purchases within the next 10 years. Millennials (44%) are the most likely of any age group to say cryptocurrency will be widely accepted. 34% of Gen X’ers and 29% of baby boomers agreed with this point of view.

Illegal pursuits

However, a near-equal amount (34%) of people do not think cryptocurrencies will become widely accepted within 10 years’ time. This could potentially be connected to the fact that many perceive Bitcoin et al to be used mostly for illegal purchases. One quarter think cryptocurrencies are used more for these rather than legal ones. Only 17% think they’re used more for legal purchases, and 19% say cryptocurrencies are equally used for legal and illegal purchases.

Of the people who believe that cryptocurrencies will become widely accepted, 36% say they would be interested in converting to primarily using a cryptocurrency rather than the US dollar. However, 57% would not be interested in doing this. Millennials are almost equally split between being interested (48%) and not interested (50%).

See the full results here.