Who are the most avid supporters of the peer-to-peer decentralized currency bitcoin? Well, millennials, Independents, libertarians and tech-savvy individuals are the most in favor of the digital currency being allowed to function without government intervention.
Reason Magazine released a new Reason-Rupe poll to highlight where bitcoins stand in the United States today. The results pretty much confirmed what some preceding studies have found: youth like it, but others want to ban it.
Here are some of the most interesting findings of the nationwide survey:
Not Everyone Knows Bitcoin
Despite the prevalence of bitcoin in the mainstream media outlets, there are only a small percentage of people that know what the virtual currency is. Only eight percent of Americans knew “a lot” about bitcoin,” 11 percent noted “some,” one-quarter said “a little” and the majority of respondents (56 percent) stated that they knew “nothing at all.”
Ban It
The poll concluded that individuals who understood the least about bitcoin actually wanted the government to prohibit consumers from utilizing the digital currency for purchases of goods and services.
The survey interviewers described bitcoin as this: “a new online digital currency that is not connected to any particular country’s currency system and is not controlled by any government.”
Following this description, 47 percent called for a ban, but more than one-third (38 percent) said it should be permitted. Another 14 percent were honest to admit they were unsure.
What should be noted, though, is that those who maintained a fair amount of knowledge pertaining to bitcoin supported allowing citizens to use it with a margin of 62 to 34 percent compared to 54 to 27 percent of those who were ignorant of it but wanted a full-fledge ban.
Democrats vs. Republicans
Independent voters were in favor of bitcoin and Independents who leaned Republicans also supported the virtual currency. One-third of Republican-leaning Independents want a ban, while a majority (57 percent) of Democrats want it banned.
Furthermore, self-identified libertarians were on the bitcoin bandwagon: 66 percent vs. 17 percent in support. However, self-identified conservatives were against it: 53 percent vs. 33 percent in opposition.
The Reason-Rupe study conductors went a step further and asked about the role of government. A majority of respondents (53 percent) said government should promote values that are unfavorable toward bitcoin, while 32 percent say it should be favorable. It appears that both social conservatives and voters who want a strong government and a government to do more oppose bitcoin.
Specifics
The telephone poll was conducted with 1,003 adults between Mar. 26 and 30. It contains a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points. A video has also accompanied the results of the study.
Previous surveys have highlighted the paucity of knowledge regarding bitcoin. One poll found that a significant portion of survey participants thought it had something to do with the Xbox video game console. Others, though, just don’t trust it and the more they know the less they like.
“Bitcoin has addressed some major opportunities in the financial system, but the vulnerability of some bitcoin exchanges, along with the currency’s overall volatility, are still serious issues,” Tim O’Brien, Yodlee’s senior vice president of operations and information security, said in a statement. “Bitcoin will be hard for consumers to understand and trust on a large scale until secure, user-friendly tools and services emerge to make it as convenient and safe as possible to use.”
