More than 70% of Swedish people know about Bitcoin, but only 10% expect the central bank's digital currency eKrona

2017 is destined to be a prosperous year for Bitcoin, but judging from the attitude of the Swedish people towards the country's digital currency " eKrona ", the popularization and promotion of cryptocurrency still has a long way to go.

Only 10% of the public expect eKrona

The country's central bank originally planned to issue eKrona in November last year. If all went well, Sweden would have become the first country to issue an official digital currency.

However, when the public was asked about their views on central bank digital currencies, responses were muted.

According to a December survey by research firm Sifo,不到10% of the public support eKrona becoming an official currency to supplement cash.

Not only that, although nearly two-thirds of the respondents have varying degrees of understanding of Bitcoin, only 2% have actually used this digital currency.

Real innovation or fake innovation?

Since 2010, the cash transaction rate in Sweden has fallen to 40%, but the public is not dissatisfied with the current situation. The diverse cashless transactions provided in the country seem to have fully catered to the needs of most people. Indeed, DCE Brothers (cryptocurrency information platform) believes that the Swedish public's satisfaction with the status quo is the main reason why digital currencies cannot flourish in the country.

Charlotta Wark, head of digital payment solutions at Tieto, one of the companies responsible for the survey, said:

The government’s original intention in issuing eKrona was to accelerate the development of new digital services… To a certain extent, this approach can have a positive impact.

In addition, consumers are reluctant to choose paid services provided by exchanges, and exchanges are slowly losing competitiveness, especially in today’s booming digital payment services.

Cashless payments have become a hot topic recently, especially privacy issues. Due to the crackdown on cash currency in India and Venezuela, and perhaps Pakistan and Australia in the future, people are increasingly distrusting the currency issued by the central bank. This kind of biometrically authenticated payment is traceable, so many people are quite critical of it and express concerns.

eKrona, which is controlled by the central bank, is no exception. However, its inherent traceability can provide us with the best way to observe the popularity of digital currency.

Centralized digital currency?

At the same time, in the decentralized world, the price of Bitcoin has exceeded the $1,000 mark. The surge in market demand and the need for speculation have led to extremely high attention on this digital currency.

As of January 2, the market value of Bitcoin has reached 160亿美元. In other markets such as China, this number may be even higher. However, major banks have not made any move.