Poor Russians More Aware of Crypto Than the Rich, Poll Finds
August 08 2018 - 8:49AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
A recently conducted survey has produced interesting results
regarding how much Russians know about cryptocurrencies. People
with lower incomes have been found to have a better idea of digital
money than their rich compatriots. At the same time, general
awareness of cryptos seems to be falling along with their
prices.
Number of Crypto-Aware
Russians Drops
The majority of Russians do
not quite understand what cryptocurrency is and have no intentions
to acquire digital assets, according to a new poll released by
Romir Holding, one of Russia’s largest market research companies.
The survey has been carried out among 1,500 adults, 18 years and
up, from across the vast country to determine how important the
crypto topic is for Russians these days.
“It became clear that
despite the increased attention to the matter, less than half of
Russians have any idea about cryptocurrencies – 44 percent. At the
same time, a large portion of the respondents – 56 percent – said
they did not know what that was,” noted the authors of the study,
quoted by RIA Novosti. They found that 31 percent of the
respondents had an “approximate idea” of what cryptos are but
admitted they didn’t have an accurate and clear understanding of
these financial assets.
The results also suggest
that the number of crypto-aware Russians is dropping, probably
along with the prices of the digital coins this year. 56 percent of
the respondents in an earlier poll, published in January by VCIOM,
said they knew about Bitcoin. The results for active internet users
were even higher – 66 percent: men – 71 percent, residents of
Moscow – 74 percent, and young Russians – 75
percent.
Poor Russians Know More
About Cryptocurrency
The ability of
cryptocurrencies to provide people of lesser means with
permissionless access to a financial system is a well-known
characteristic that many around the world are taking advantage of.
Ask people in inflation-hit Zimbabwe, Venezuela, or Argentina. The
latest Russian crypto survey has made another interesting discovery
regarding the attitudes of rich and poor towards the crypto
space.
According to the
researchers at Romir, the respondents from the lower income bracket
– less than 10,000 rubles (~$160) monthly per family member – are
more likely to understand cryptocurrencies (38 percent), compared
to the group of the rich – those with 25,000 rubles per family
member – where the share of the knowledgeable, at just 26 percent,
is smaller than the average.
The poll has also found
that only 13 percent of those questioned know and understand the
principles of how cryptocurrency works. These are mostly young
people, between 18 and 24 years of age (27 percent), and also
Russians that are 25 – 31 years old (21 percent). Among those who
are well aware of digital money, men are twice as many as women –
18 percent compared to 9 percent.
Majority Not Willing to Buy
Crypto Now
Unfortunately, even among
those with a decent understanding of cryptocurrencies, there aren’t
too many willing to buy these assets at the moment. 87 percent said
they were not planning to acquire cryptocurrency, while 11 percent
don’t mind buying. Only 2 percent of the participants in this
particular survey confirmed they currently own digital
coins.
The majority of Russians
who own cryptocurrency, 75 percent, said they bought it with the
goal to make a profit from their investment, which more than half
of them managed to accomplish. Another 24 percent wanted to possess
virtual money out of a desire to be part of the modern
trend.
Around 16 percent needed
cryptos to pay for goods and services and 15 percent admitted their
decision to buy was influenced by media coverage and ads. Most
respondents purchased either bitcoin (BTC) or ethereum (ETH), with
BTC favored fivefold.
Source: Lubomir Tassev
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