In brief

  • Almost half of Americans believe a "trigger event" will lead to widespread Bitcoin adoption, according to a new survey.
  • Of those surveyed, 69% said "real-life payments" will be a driving factor.
  • Hurdles to adoption include lack of resources and lack of knowledge about cryptocurrency.

Could a “trigger event” like the coronavirus crisis push people to Bitcoin as a safe haven? According to a new survey from peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange Paxful, a large number of Americans believe that it could.

Paxful today released results of a One Poll survey of 500 Americans, aged 18 to 55, with “an understanding of cryptocurrency,” even if not crypto users necessarily. Of those surveyed, almost 50% said they believe a “trigger event in the traditional finance system will drive people to Bitcoin.”

Most respondents, however, said that they believe a “lack of knowledge” about crypto is creating a barrier to entry, whereas 34% said a lack of resources is the biggest hurdle. What’s more, most Americans surveyed said they don’t believe mass crypto adoption will happen any time soon.

“It was interesting to see that many believe that mainstream adoption will be in the next six to 10 years,” Paxful COO and co-founder Artur Scahabck told Decrypt. “Contrary to that, by the same amount of time (6 to 10 years) respondents also believe that the crypto bubble will burst,” he said. 

“I am hopeful for the first scenario, so I think, as an industry, we should work towards creating more products that will be used for real-life use cases that can help accelerate mainstream adoption,” said Scahabck.

The survey also touched on a  notable division within the Bitcoin community: Is the cryptocurrency meant for savings or payments? 

Of those surveyed, 69.2% included “real-life payments” as a use case, while 50.4% said it would combat inflation and corruption.

 

Widespread Bitcoin adoption could also be affected by several other factors, according to the survey. The “next wave of cryptocurrency adoption” could be driven by institutional investment, according to 48% of those surveyed.

Paxful, meanwhile, aims to continue to build products that “will help in making digital currency more accessible and showcase the real use-cases of Bitcoin and peer-to-peer finance in everyday life,” said Schahabck.

Crypto firms may want to hurry. If the global financial crisis worsens, people may opt to seek out parallel systems such as Bitcoin sooner that some might think.