Cryptocurrency Holders Afraid to Transact Digital Currencies

An overwhelming majority of cryptocurrency holders don’t pay with their coins or tokens because they cannot be sure that the transaction will be processed successfully, according to a recent survey conducted by the Foundation for Interwallet Operability (FIO). FIO is a consortium of blockchain wallets, cryptocurrency exchanges, and payment providers. It seeks ways to make the sending and receiving of digital assets safe and easy — so that less tech-savvy people feel scared and intimidated by the new technology. In its latest survey, FIO asked 231 digital coin holders about their experiences with the cryptocurrency ecosystem in 2018. The researchers did not target any specific age or gender — instead, reaching out to the participants via social media and paid advertising on Twitter and LinkedIn. Bitcoin (BTC) and many of its offspring are meant to be hassle-free, cost-effective, and secure ways to transfer value and pay for goods and services. However, only 30 percent of respondents sent digital assets to the wallets of other users, including payments for goods and services, regularly throughout a year. Nearly 70 percent of cryptocurrency owners did so only a few times — or not at all.

What’s Wrong?

The whole industry is still in a nascent stage and has lots of room for improvement. Industry surveys and research allow for the discovery of weak spots and help us understand what prevents it from moving forward. According to the responses obtained by FIO, people are wary of the vague and often fluctuating transaction fees and potential issues with transaction processing. As such, over 55 percent of the respondents that actually sent coins and tokens to third parties had at least one transaction-related problem. They reported issues with public addresses — namely, related to the inherent risk of sending money to an invalid or wrong address or falling victim to phishing attacks. About 22 percent of the participants actually lost money due to user error or scams. What’s more, 38 percent of those who transferred coins only between their own wallets or cryptocurrency exchange accounts reported the same concerns and experienced at least one issue with their transactions.

People Are Scared

Generally, only 25 percent of cryptocurrency users felt very confident after making a transaction, while 58 percent of respondents said that they were cautiously optimistic and tended to check the progress frequently until the transaction was confirmed. Such a low level of confidence is a grave problem for an ecosystem that is based on the principles of immutability and trustless by nature. As the survey showed, people are scared to lose their money if something goes wrong. This attitude must be changed if we want to see the extensive use of Bitcoin in commerce. FIO research correlates to the recent Twitter survey, in which cryptocurrency users said that they regard digital assets as a store of value. Have you ever experienced issues with cryptocurrency transactions? What do you think of the survey results? Let us know what you think in the comments below!