By Rayna Harris, Independent Technology Author
Source: @Sergey_Mavrody via Twitter
Undoubtedly the biggest issue in the financial world in the past 12 months has been the incredible growth seen in bitcoin. The currency, which has been around since 2009, has been a huge talking point for everyone involved in IT and the financial world for some time with one question being on many people’s lips – does it truly have a long-term future?
While bitcoin has soared to record highs in recent times, such growth has been tempered by the occasional bump in the road like the huge drops seen in its value in the early weeks of 2018. Nevertheless, it continues to attract attention with a host of sectors now offering bitcoin as a payment option, including major businesses such as Microsoft and travel site Expedia. There is even a growing gambling scene related to the currency, with the table from this site highlighting some of the top bitcoin casino platforms which have emerged in the past couple of years.
So with bitcoin unlikely to go away anytime soon, where is the main interest in the currency currently coming from? While that is clearly always going to be a difficult question to answer, a few studies in recent weeks have attempted to come up with one.
Optimistic for the future
According to a survey from cryptocurrency solutions provider Pundi X, on a global level the biggest advocates of the currency can actually be found in Indonesia, where 74 percent of people polled stated that they were optimistic about the future of bitcoin and similar currencies. Indians and the Japanese came second and third with 68 percent and 66 percent respectively, while the UK’s result of 44 percent made the country the most unsure about the long-term outlook.
Source: @JamesGRickards via Twitter
Interestingly, according to Bitcoin.com, Americans were found to be only slightly more confident than Brits, with just 45 percent of US respondents feeling positive about the future – an interesting finding considering the results of another recent piece of research.
Millennials confident about bitcoin
According to a report by Blockchain Capital, almost a third of millennials in the US would rather own $1,000 of bitcoin than the equivalent amount of government bonds. Furthermore, 48 percent of the generation believes that bitcoin is a positive innovation for financial technology, with 42 percent also stating that most people will be using bitcoin in the next decade. Male millennials in particular were found to be strong advocates of the technology, with 41 percent of them stating in the poll that they would be likely to buy bitcoin in the next five years.
It is arguably unsurprising to see younger people more drawn to bitcoin than older generations, with the latter perhaps feeling a stronger affinity for more traditional financial products and services. However, with bitcoin remaining fairly volatile, it will be interesting to see whether the predictions of US millennials will ultimately come true. Can bitcoin prove its doubters wrong and become the real deal, or is it simply destined to have an exciting rise followed by a major fall? It is undoubtedly going to be fascinating finding out.
