Crypto.com and The Economist produce digital asset report

Crypto.com has teamed up with The Economist to produce a report on the attitudes towards cryptocurrencies and digital assets.

The report reveals that 20% of respondents don’t use cryptocurrencies but they plan to in the next year, while 54% of respondents said they would consider a digital currency issued by their government, also called a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Interestingly 34% of people thought that online payments were the main function of cryptocurrencies with 24% labelling it as a short-term investment.

“Our report showed that while the use of cryptocurrencies amongst the general public is low, people are very curious and optimistic about them for the future,” said Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com. “This bodes very well for our industry and comes at a pivotal time when trust in financial markets is wavering and more people are turning their attention to the growing range of digital currencies that continue to present a clear plan B to our traditional financial structures.”

It’s now thought that as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic the use of digital currencies will continue to rise, although Jason Wincuinas, senior editor for the Economist Intelligence Unit, admitted that Covid-19 wasn’t factored into the survey.

“Covid-19 wasn’t part of the original survey parameters since it didn’t exist at the survey’s onset.” Wincuinas added.

“But we can see in events since the survey finished in February—such as debate in the US congress over introducing a ‘digital dollar’ in recent weeks—that this is becoming a structural concern for society. What’s interesting is how China and Sweden were already looking at digital currency as potential pillars of their monetary systems. For other countries, maybe it takes an emergency like Covid-19 to move the needle.”

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