35.4% of Americans who don't plan on buying crypto in the next 12 months say they'd change their minds if they could use it for everyday item purchases and bills.
Cash, credit, crypto — oh my! According to new research by Finder, roughly one quarter of American adults (25%) think that cryptocurrency will replace fiat currency. Finder polled 2,040 adults 18+ in an online survey revealing that cryptocurrency doesn’t have enough practical uses for many Americans.
Is cash king or will cryptocurrency reign?
In fact, 75% of Americans do not think that cryptocurrency will replace fiat currency (for example, the US dollar). Women are the largest nay-sayers, with almost 80% believing cash will always be king and 20% believing cryptocurrency will reign. Men aren’t far behind, with 71% believing cryptocurrency won’t replace fiat and 29% believing it will.
You can’t teach an old dog new tricks
You might not be surprised that the older generations are more skeptical of digital currencies. Almost 95% of the silent generation believe that fiat currency will always dominate our wallets. Following behind them are baby boomers (91%), Gen X (71%), Gen Z (65%) and millennials (62%).
Millennials are the leading generation to believe that cryptocurrency will replace fiat currency, with 38% responding “Yes”. Only 5% of the silent generation believes cryptocurrency will replace fiat.
A lack of understanding is the reason 50% of Americans have not invested in cryptocurrency in the past. But what would convince them to invest?
Research found that financial literacy is the key to gaining new investors. 37% of Americans who don’t plan on buying cryptocurrency say they would invest money in it if they better understood how it works. Making cryptocurrency more transactional on a day-to-day basis is the next most common way, with 35% saying they’d invest if they could use it to buy more everyday items or pay bills.
Rounding out the top 3 is making cryptocurrency accessible through traditional institutions (such as banks) at 31%. Following closely behind is 29% of Americans that don’t plan on buying cryptocurrency in the next year, saying they’d invest in it if it was more strongly supported by governments. Only a quarter of Americans (26%) say that nothing would make them want to invest in cryptocurrency.
More women would invest if cryptocurrency wasn’t as cryptic
44% of women that don’t plan to buy cryptocurrency in the next 12 months said they’d be more likely to invest money in it if they had a deeper understanding of how it works. Almost 28% of women who aren’t planning to invest in cryptocurrency within the year reported they would if they understood how to actually invest in it in general.
Among those that don’t plan on buying cryptocurrency in the next year, 37% of men are more willing to invest in it than women (34%) if the purchase of everyday items and paying bills was more accessible. Approximately 38% of men report they are most likely to be enticed into investing in cryptocurrency if it becomes more strongly supported by governments and 37% say they’ll invest if it becomes accessible through traditional institutions (such as banks).
The use of cryptocurrencies bewilder each generation equally
Digital payments might not be America’s cryptonite anymore, but financial literacy is. The silent generation is the most crypto-illiterate generation, with 52% of its non-crypto owning respondents saying they don’t own cryptocurrency because they don’t understand how it works (52%), followed closely by Gen X (50%), millennials (50%), baby boomers (45%) and Gen Z (44%).
Florida lacks crypto literacy the most
Equipped with palm trees, alligators and theme parks, Florida has it all, except for the knowledge of how cryptocurrency works. Almost 54% of Floridians say they don’t own cryptocurrency because they don’t understand how it works. California girls (and guys) are next in line, with 48% in need of more crypto education. Following California is Texas (45%), Pennsylvania (38%) and New York (35%).
Yes, with a cryptocurrency wallet and exchange you’ll be well on your way to shopping for birthdays, holidays and all the days in between. Using cryptocurrency to replace fiat currency doesn’t have to be difficult and there’s more appeal than folks might know about from low transaction fees, private ownership, identity protection to general accessibility.
What is a cryptocurrency wallet?
Crypto wallets are software programs that allow you to store, receive and send digital currencies. There are more than 70+ crypto wallets to choose from in America.
Although cryptocurrency has not taken over mainstream currencies, crypto banking is already an option offering perks such as sky-high yields and low-interest financing. Americans currently have access to crypto debit cards, crypto savings accounts, crypto credit cards, crypto loans and crypto trading accounts.
Are there cryptocurrency ATMs?
States throughout the US are adopting better crypto infrastructure every day to assist individuals in transacting and utilizing cryptocurrencies for everyday use. New Hampshire ranks #1 as the state with the best infrastructure, followed by Nevada, Kansas, New Mexico and Florida.
Where can you shop with cryptocurrency?
There are an array of services and goods you can purchase with cryptocurrency as well as charities that accept cryptocurrency donations, some directly and others that utilize third-party payment service providers such as Coinbase, Flexa, BitPay, Bakkt and SpedN to name a few. We’ve compiled a list of common corporations that accept the most popular crypto coins: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Travel
Cheapair.com (BTC; BCH; ETH)
Destinia (BTC; BCH)
Expedia (BTC)
Travala.com (BTC; BCH; ETH; LTC; DOGE
Online retailers
Microsoft/Xbox (BTC)
Namecheap (BTC)
Newegg (BTC; BCH; ETH; LTC; DOGE)
Overstock (BTC)
Shopify (BTC; ETH; LTC)
Service providers
AT&T (BTC)
Dish Network (BTC; BCH)
Namecheap (BTC)
Twitch (BTC; BCH; LTC)
Wikipedia (BTC; BCH)
Physical retail and restaurants Not available at all locations
AMC (BTC; BCH; ETH; LTC)
Baskin-Robbins (BTC; ETH; LTC; DOGE)
GameStop (BTC; BCH; LTC; DOGE)
Home Depot (BTC)
Starbucks (BTC)
Whole Foods (BTC)
Methodology
Finder’s data is based on an online survey of 2,040 US adults born between 1928 and 2003 commissioned by Finder and conducted by Pureprofile in September 2021. Participants were paid volunteers.
We assume the participants in our survey represent the US population of 259.4 million Americans who are at least 18 years old according to World Population Review’s estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2.17% margin of error.
The survey asked respondents whether or not they believe cryptocurrency will replace fiat currency and if they plan to invest in cryptocurrency in the next 12 months. Additionally, the survey asked respondents that said they were not planning on investing in cryptocurrency about what would make them change their minds and decide to invest in cryptocurrencies.
We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines:
Gen Z : 1997–2003
Millennials — 1981–1996
Gen X — 1965–1980
Baby boomers — 1946–1964
Silent generation — 1928–1945
For all media inquiries, please contact:
Richard Laycock, Insights editor and senior content marketing manager
Chelsea Gregori is the PR Specialist at Finder, where she enjoys the ebb and flow of data storytelling, relationship building and link building. Chelsea is passionate about creating content that provides valuable resources to empower the people around her to make the most informed personal finance decisions. Prior to Finder, Chelsea managed the musical duo Well Worn Soles, booking venues and festivals across the Southeast. She also managed her personal homesteading blog, Grow Where You Sow, creating content to guide individuals looking for a slower, more financially savvy lifestyle. When she isn’t diving into the world of digital and traditional PR, she’s hang drying laundry, milking goats, growing gardens, humanely raising happy livestock, making mayonnaise and contributing to a 50-acre subsistence agricultural farm and community.
Every 3 months, Finder empanels a range of industry specialists to get a pulse on what the future holds for crypto. This is a summary of those findings.
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