Bitcoin’s recent diagonal tear to $13K USD has now relented as the currency’s price has settled back down to around $10k, and as the froth clears, information from two polls shows that the general public may be feeling tepid about Facebook’s proposed new cryptocurrency.
Some pundits claimed last week that the Bitcoin price was surfing a cresting wave of enthusiasm kicked up by the announcement of Libra, Facebook’s contentious new wade into cryptographic payments.
Others claimed the run-up was induced by strategic injections of tethers (synthetic digital USDs) into the crypto trading universe.
We may never know for sure, but at the moment, according to data from IBD/TIPP reported at Investor’s Business Daily, 85% of respondents said they were “unlikely” to own any cryptocurrency, including Bitcoins.
According to the outlet, Facebook has particularly failed to capture the interest of young people:
“The news for Facebook Libra was worst in the demographic that would seem most likely to use the new technology. Among those age 18-24, 94% said they are not interested in the forthcoming digital coin. Among those age 25-44, 82% are not interested. For 45-64s, 91% said they are not keen on Libra.”
The poll did unearth the surprising indicator that, “Americans age 65 and older showed the least resistance. But seniors were hardly enthusiastic: 79% aren’t interested in Facebook Libra.”
Also noteworthy is, “There was almost no difference between the sexes in the level of interest, with 13% of men and 14% of women intrigued by the idea.”
Meanwhile, survey data from financial services company Jefferies of 600 social media users regarding Libra reportedly indicates that 80% of respondents in that poll said they are “Unlikely” or “Very unlikely” to buy Facebook libra coins.
Respondents reportedly stated that a lack of trust for Facebook is informing their concerns about the coin, even though Facebook has claimed it will not data-mine users’ transaction info.
The low interest could affect the success of the venture, according to Jefferies:
“Effectively, without substantial network effects, we do not expect Libra to replace existing forms of cashless payments—at least not in the near term.”
Of those who did express interest in Libra, 12% said they’d use it to buy goods and services, 14% said they’s use it to send money to friends/family and 15% said they’d use it for both.
All told, Jefferies reportedly says that consumers are slow to adopt new payment systems such as ApplePay, and the company also proposes that incentives will be required to motivate interest in the Libra system.
