2019-1-11 18:24 |
Even though cryptocurrency and blockchain technology has taken off in popularity over the past few years, the complicated nature of both still represents a stumbling block for interested people who might want to start investing on their own.
A December survey from eToro U.S. asked respondents about interest in learning more about digital currencies and questioned people’s knowledge on the industry.
69% of respondents indicated they had interest in learning more about cryptocurrencies. 75% asserted a lack of knowledge about digital currency assets, whole 20% of those who did hold crypto said they did not have the necessary understanding of virtual currency.
44% of respondents said they did not invest in cryptocurrency because they maintained a lack of knowledge about them.
U.S. managing director of eToro, Guy Hirsch, said the results showed a “serious lack of education resources available to those who would like to invest in or learn more about crypto.”
The results also suggested a potentially big market opportunity for effective and interesting crypto-related educational content. 67% of those polled said they just invested by looking at their preferred online trading platform. 43% kept up with social media channels to get information about virtual currencies.
In a recent interview, eToro senior market analyst Mati Greenspan highlighted the fact that the ‘key to success’ for cryptocurrency and blockchain would be “education, education, education.”
Greenspan said education should be at the “top of the agenda this year” due to a large desire by people to gain knowledge of the space. He said a clear example of the “level of education that is needed here” could be attributed to a different eToro survey conducted in the United Kingdom that found a distinct lack of crypto-related knowledge among asset managers.
Much of Greenspan’s thoughts were echoed by Sally Eaves, a professor and the CEO of the Sustainable Asset Exchange.
She told Express.co.uk how “mainstream adoption and accelerated growth are dependent on broadened awareness and accessibility to quality information.”
Eaves cited research that said 38% of the British population did not have an understanding of virtual currency, but how 61% asserted a desire to learn more about it.
She advocated for the existence of
“bias-free education resources” that would appeal to a wide range of audiences, including those with no prior background knowledge. Eaves said impactful educational resources would cut out jargon and instead focus on the “benefits of application over technical specifics.”
Some learning institutions, like the Seoul School of Integrated Sciences and Technologies, have jumped out ahead when it comes to crypto-focused education.
The school said in December it would offer a new MBA that focused on cryptocurrencies. The degree program will also touch on the blockchain, smart contracts, crypto funds, and dApps.
Difficult and confusing technical jargon has been identified as one of the more off-putting attributes of cryptocurrency, according to Express.co.uk, citing a variety of surveys from 2018.
Many in the industry maintain educational resources with simple and clear explanations for terms and phrases would go a long way towards fostering crypto adoption among those with no prior investment experience.
Eaves said these types of educational resources would give people the ability to “clarify the distinctions between cryptocurrency and underlying blockchain technology, and make informed choices, whether around investment potential or career development choices.”
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