EU countries need to pick up the crypto pace, Luno

47% of European countries are still sceptical about the profitability and safety of cryptocurrencies, according to research by Luno. Whereas 79% of those in emerging markets outside of Europe are more optimistic about the profitability of Bitcoin, Ethereum et al.

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This is a space that is attracting interest from investors outside of Europe, with 82% of people in emerging markets purchasing crypto solely to invest. This is compared to only 58% of Europeans who have invested in cryptocurrencies to boost their bank balance, whilst 29% use them solely to shop online. The research, involving 500 people in each of seven territories, also found that 29% of emerging markets and 21% of Europeans have already received crypto as a form of payment.

However, many Europeans have safety concerns. In the long-term, only a third believe that cryptocurrencies are a safe investment compared to 69% of those in emerging markets. At the same time, though, 84% of European consumers that don’t own cryptocurrencies are interested in owning crypto in the near future.

37% of Europeans and 44% of emerging markets agree that an increase in price stability would have a positive impact on their outlooks. Along with this, 43% of Europeans and 48% of emerging markets would like to see less risk of losing money, and under a third would change their opinion if Governments took a positive outlook on the cryptosphere.

Finally, 48% of Europeans and 49% in emerging markets stated that using crypto is complicated. Christian Zeiler, GM Europe at Luno, says: “It’s really interesting to see that even in times of uncertainty in the crypto market, consumers that don’t own any cryptocurrency are looking to get involved in the space. I still think there is a long way to go to get these consumers to buy cryptocurrency but we are leading the way in educating the general public in the benefits of cryptocurrencies and through our educational programmes and talks we hope that we can show the consumers that think cryptocurrencies are complicated that this is not the case and get them more involved in this evolving technology.”