Survey: 48% of Brazilians believe Bitcoin should be adopted as legal tender

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A study commissioned by Sherlock Communications and conducted by the Toluna platform shows that 48% of respondents think Brazil should adopt Bitcoin as its currency, with 31% agreeing and 17% strongly agreeing.

Another 30% neither agree nor disagree that the country should have the cryptocurrency, while 12% disagree and 9% strongly disagree.

A total of 2,700 people, aged over 18, from 7 countries in addition to Brazil were surveyed: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Mexico. An online panel on Toluna’s platform was used to conduct the survey.

“Brazilians were the main proponents of crypto-recognition in the region, with 56% supporting El Salvador’s measure and 48% saying they want Brazil to adopt it too,” the study says.

On the impact of cryptocurrencies on global trade, 32% of Brazilians pointed out that they should bring the world’s economies closer together, while 31% mentioned facilitating international money exchange.

Another 30% of respondents believe that they can do away with local currencies. Each respondent could choose up to 3 answers to this question.

Among the least voted alternatives were increased tax evasion for the wealthiest (12%), facilitating travel (13%), and increased crime and money laundering (13%).

Despite the willingness to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, Brazilians still believe that the country is far behind compared to others when it comes to the crypto market as a whole, with 35% of respondents sharing this opinion.

Another 31% said that Brazil is advancing, while 23% believe that in the coming years it will have many more users of this market. Some 4% of respondents think that it is a topic with no future in the country, while 5% did not point out any of the alternatives, and 2% offered other answers.

The survey also asked respondents which cryptocurrencies they know and Brazil registered the population that knows the most about Bitcoin (92% said they know it), Litecoin (30%) and Dogecoin (16%), and second only to Argentina with knowledge on Ethereum.

REASONS FOR INVESTING IN CRYPTOCURRENCIES

The survey also asked respondents about their reasons to investing in cryptocurrencies, and for Brazilians the main factor was portfolio diversification, with 55% of answers.

Respondents could choose up to 3 answers, and second came “to protect my assets from inflation and financial instability,” with 39%. This was the top answer for Argentines, with 58%.

For 37% of Brazilian respondents, investing in digital currencies is a means to keep up with technological trends, while 28% said it is a means of payment for work done for foreign companies.

Completing the list of reasons: to make transfers at a lower cost (19%); to send and receive money from family and friends abroad (13%); 12% do not invest in cryptocurrencies, and 2% offered other reasons.

In the survey report, Sherlock points out that “cryptocurrency ETFs (index funds) issued in Brazil allow people to invest in cryptocurrencies in a regulated way, allowing more conservative investors to experiment with this market.”

“The 3 regulatory sandboxes in Latin America are Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, countries that are open to experiment and innovate with blockchain and cryptocurrencies,” the document further states.

The company also notes that as digital currency prices rise and reach historic highs, it is natural that more people in Latin America wish to ride this crypto wave. “Education and user experience are still the main obstacles to mass adoption, but when the economy is at stake, the adoption of new technologies becomes much more attractive,” Sherlock found.

INVESTORS’ CONCERNS

Despite a drop in Brazilians who say they don’t invest in cryptocurrencies, from 33% in the 2020 survey to the current 12%, there are still many factors that explain why people don’t put money into these assets.

For 42% of respondents, the main problem is concern with the safety of the money invested in cryptocurrencies, indicating a growing concern with news of scams involving Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

Some 37% indicated instability and market variations as the main reason for not using cryptocurrencies today, while 33% said they do not have enough money to invest.

Two other highly cited items are related to knowledge of the asset class, with 26% saying they do not know enough to invest in cryptocurrencies, while 22% of respondents said they do not believe they have the technical skills to do so.

On the other hand, for 45% of Brazilians reading and understanding more about cryptos is what would give more confidence to invest in this market.

Moreover, other points hindering investors’ confidence are also related to the platforms, with 39% lacking more reliable companies to invest in, while 36% cited the need for a user friendly platform that does not require much expertise.

The report cites that Brazil currently has some 1.4 million registered cryptocurrency users, and data from Distrito Fintech shows that there are over 180 active blockchain-related startups, with 80% of them founded in the past 5 years.