New report from the Economist Intelligence Unit reveals trends behind growing cryptocurrency acceptance

While cryptocurrencies have been around for a long time, their adoption has seen phenomenal growth in the last year, largely due to a huge increase in the number of cryptocurrency transactions as more businesses are happy to accept digital currencies as a form of payment for goods and services amid the worldwide pandemic.

Growth in the use of cryptocurrencies

To understand what’s driving this shift and get more data, Crypto.com, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), a global leader in global business intelligence, to conduct a consumer survey across North America, Asia, and Europe.

The EUI’s annual report titled “Digitalization – Fear and Favor of Digital Currencies” highlighted several new trends after a detailed comparative analysis with the 2020 survey. The results showed that the use of digital currencies and transactions increased several times compared to the previous year.

A total of 3,053 consumers participated in the survey. They mainly came from developed countries such as France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Singapore and South Korea, as well as developing countries such as the Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam, Brazil and Turkey. Their ages were mainly between 18 and 38 years old.

In addition to consumer data, the report draws in part from a separate study of 200 institutional investors and corporate financial management professionals in the same countries.

Henri Arslanian, PwC’s global crypto leader, and Mathew McDermott, managing director and global head of digital assets at Goldman Sachs, weighed in on the report, with notable highlights including:

Due to physical distancing norms implemented during the pandemic, nearly 81% of participants believe they could see their country gradually becoming a cashless economy, compared to 72% in 2020.

Consumers are increasingly favoring digital transactions. Nearly 46% of consumers surveyed believe that the pandemic has increased the use of digital currencies/assets.

Witnessing the dramatic rise in the acceptance of cryptocurrencies in everyday life, Henry Aslanian commented: “This is a critical moment in the history of money, in the future of money, and there are a few catalysts that have contributed to this trend, one of which is the pandemic.”

The rapid rise of digital payments

In terms of customer awareness, cryptocurrencies remain the most well-known digital currency choice. In the 2021 survey, more than 55% of consumers admitted that they knew about cryptocurrencies but had never owned or used them.

Other important trends include:

Of all participants, 27% said they prefer digital payments over fiat currency or credit cards. In contrast, 41% of respondents said they make at least half of their transactions using digital currencies, up from just 22% in 2020.

18% of respondents said they use open source cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.), 12% of consumers use government-issued central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and 10% use other digital currencies issued by certified entities.

The 2021 report further specifies that 17% of respondents expect their country to be cashless within one to two years, which is an increase from the previous year.

Commenting on the consumer response, Matthew McDermott added: “As more people adopt and have access to digital wallets, you can see the number of people who can use and invest in cryptocurrencies continue to expand.”
Cryptocurrency is a product of a disruptive era and a global carnival.
Here, you can feel the extreme greed and fear of human nature, and the impact of emerging things on cognition... And only when you start to participate in all of this, you will have a personal understanding and experience, and it will force you to continue to learn and reflect. It is never too late to stay curious, learn patience, and cultivate sensitivity to information. Only in this way can you have the possibility to embrace the next opportunity.
Yingfu Investment Intelligent Investment Platform is so easy to operate that you can say goodbye to tiring manual trading and emotional losses. It collects big data in real time, calculates the stable trading range of each product in real time, and optimizes the tracking profit-taking and waterfall prevention mechanisms! If you want to know more, please scan the QR code and follow us: