While bitcoin’s profile continues to climb worldwide, many Britons remain cryptocurrency skeptics who would not invest in bitcoin even if it were backed by the Bank of England according to a recent survey.
The bearish sentiment was chronicled in research compiled by polling company D-CYFOR. The poll results showed that while 93 percent of Britons had heard of bitcoin, a majority (60 percent) would not support the Bank of England (BoE) in launching its own cryptocurrency linked to the British pound.
One-third of those polled in the UK said they would be “more likely” to invest in bitcoin if the U.K. government regulated the industry, but a whopping 56 percent said they would not invest in cryptocurrencies even if rules were implemented.
D-CYFOR previously conducted a poll in January 2018 tracking sentiment regarding bitcoin, with 1015 individuals participating via an online survey.
61 Percent Say Bitcoin Price Will Plunge
Meanwhile, only 39 percent of Britons surveyed said they believe the price of bitcoin will increase over the next six months, while a stunning 61 percent said prices will drop or tank to zero. Here’s a snapshot of the poll results:
- 93 percent of individuals surveyed have heard of bitcoin,
- 60 percent would not support a BoE-backed cryptocurrency,
- 56 percent would not invest in bitcoin even if the U.K. government regulated crypto,
- 61 percent believe bitcoin’s price will drop or crash to zero over the next six months.
A majority of Britons would not support a Bank of England-back cryptocurrency. (Image: Pixabay)
The bearish sentiment captured in this latest poll mirrored the skepticism voiced by BoE Governor Mark Carney, who said bitcoin “has failed” as a cryptocurrency.
“It has pretty much failed thus far on the traditional aspects of money,” Carney said at London’s Regent’s University in February 2018. “It is not a store of value because it is all over the map. Nobody uses it as a medium of exchange.”
However, like other crypto skeptics, Carney expressed confidence in blockchain technology, saying it can be useful as a way to verify financial transactions in a decentralized way.
American Opinions Differ
Not surprisingly, opinions about cryptocurrencies differed across the pond when Americans were polled. According to a January 2018 poll jointly conducted by SurveyMonkey and the Global Blockchain Business Council, 60 percent of Americans had heard of bitcoin.
While only five percent of individuals surveyed owned bitcoin, 21 percent of non-holders said they were “considering adding it to their portfolios.”
Interestingly, most Americans surveyed — 69 percent — expect bitcoin’s price to increase over the next five years, while only 13 percent expect values to plummet. Less than half of those surveyed believe bitcoin is a bubble that’s set to burst.
Tale of Two Billionaires
What all this demonstrates is that there is no consensus about cryptocurrencies because it is a nascent, opaque, decentralized, unregulated market. Even financial experts differ in their outlooks.
Bill Gates is an avowed bitcoin bear, as BTCManager has reported. However, billionaire Tim Draper is convinced that crypto is the unstoppable wave of the future.
Billionaire Bill Gates is a bitcoin bear while billionaire Tim Draper is a crypto bull. (screenshots)
Draper recently set a $250,000 bitcoin price target for 2022. “I’m thinking $250,000 a bitcoin by 2022. Believe it!” the venture capitalist declared. “It’s happening, and it’s going to be awesome!”
Tim Draper has a pretty good track record when it comes to bitcoin price predictions. In 2015 (when bitcoin hovered between $200 and $500), Draper accurately predicted that bitcoin would hit $10,000 by the end of 2017. Bitcoin prices rocketed above $13,000 on December 31, 2017.
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Author: BTCManager.com
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