A new study compiled on cryptocurrency usage outlined that people are mainly using them for regular day-to-day purchases such as food and clothes. It also indicated that there’s a significant room for adoption, as only 16% answered that they had previously bought any digital asset.
Cryptocurrency payment transfers are much more anonymous than bank transfers, for example. As such, they have received a reputation for usage primarily in criminal activities.
Visual Objects compiled a study in the U.S. on the matter. 30% of people unfamiliar with digital assets reaffirmed the stance that they were used for purchases of illicit items. Another 40% answered that crypto investors are using their holdings to buy stocks.
Upon surveying 983 people familiar with digital assets; however, the report concluded differently:
“Cryptocurrency is often associated with buying illegal items online. The perception that most cryptocurrency operates outside the law, however, is incorrect.”
As the graph above illustrates, most people use them for standard purchases as food and clothes. In fact, arguably the most popular Bitcoin transaction ever involved buying food. On May 22, 2010, a Florida resident bought two pizzas with 10,000 BTC – worth at the time approximately $41.
Other categories include electronics and even buying the precious metal – gold. Yet, 15% have answered weapons, and 11% noted drugs.
Despite the rising popularity of the cryptocurrency space in the past few years, the study found out that it’s still far from mass adoption. Only 16% of all surveyed people voted that they have purchased any forms of digital assets.
It’s worth noting that this is significantly more than the results from a previous survey conducted last year. As Cryptopotato reported in October 2019, only 6.2% answered that they own cryptocurrencies at that time.
The new study also informed which particular digital assets are the most preferable by investors. Somewhat expectedly, the first two choices are also the two largest by market cap – Bitcoin and Ethereum. The former’s dominance is quite substantial in this manner – 70%.
As per the report, people are legitimizing each asset by demand and market value. The more real-life utilization one coin has, the more valuable it becomes for regular investors.
And, as Bitcoin is the first-ever cryptocurrency, it has the most real-life use cases.
Interestingly, the rest of the top 5 are not structured by market capitalization. Those are – Litecoin (currently 7th by market cap), and even more compelling choices – Dogecoin (32nd) and Dash (20th).
This article was first published on: Apr 12, 2020
