Signs of mass adoption for bitcoin

Macromill Group, a global market research company with agencies in over 90 countries, recently conducted a survey on the awareness and usage of bitcoin among the Japanese. 10000 men and women aged 20 to 69 across Japan participated.

What did they find?

Among the 10,000 respondents, Macromill Group found that 56.2% said they have heard of bitcoin but do not know what it is. In contrast, 31.4% said they know what bitcoin is while 12.4% admitted they do not know what it is at all. The company summarized: “Overall, the cognitive rate was high, 88%. Out of respondents who had heard of bitcoin, 82.9% said they have not purchased it. Only 2.7% said they have purchased it and currently own some while 2% said they have purchased it but do not own any currently. When respondents who have bitcoin were asked whether they have used it to pay for goods and services at retail stores, 47% said that they have while 53% said no. In addition, most respondents, 54%, revealed that they purchased bitcoin as a long-term investment. Meanwhile, 42% purchased it as a short-term investment, and 34% purchased bitcoin to pay for goods and services”.

Why such a high awareness?

The Japanese government legalized bitcoin as a method of payment in April. In July, they declared the sale of bitcoin free from consumption tax. Since then, more Japanese have been exposed to bitcoin online and offline, as more merchants start accepting the digital currency and promoting them in the process.

As more people started using bitcoin and becoming aware of the digital currency, more merchants also became attracted to it, ranging from small shops to large retail chains. For example, Electronics giant Bic Camera started accepting bitcoin at all of its locations across the country in July. The reason was the high demand for bitcoin. The bitcoin exchange Coincheck claims that over 5,000 merchants in Japan accept bitcoin currently, with more being added regularly.

Signs of mass adoption are being seen more and more often. Furthermore, the balance between pros and cons starts to tilt towards the pros. At a closer inspection, it seems that the harder you look the faster you understand the huge potential of bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. So keep researching and learning, only good can come out of it.