Bitcoin on the high street - is Britain ready? EXCLUSIVE SURVEY
BITCOIN, Ripple, Ethereum, and a whole host of rival digital currencies may have dominated headlines since the end of 2017, but questions remain unanswered as to how soon the mainstream investment world will adopt the technology and the products that eventually trickle down to ordinary British savers and investors.
An independent survey of over 1,000 UK residents, exclusively compiled for Express.co.uk by Toluna, a leading provider of on-demand consumer insights, found that respondents were still, largely, negative to the prospect of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin being offered as an investment opportunity.
However, the results are not conclusively negative and a significant portion of those polled were receptive to seeing bitcoin-like products on the British high street.
Of the 1002 people polled, 690 - or 68.86 percent - said they would not buy cryptocurrencies if they were offered by a high street bank.
However, 312, or 31.14 percent, of those polled said that they would purchase cryptocurrencies, which is a high figure considering the negative associations with cyber crime, money laundering and the dark web; not to mention the more recent regulatory concerns and subsequent price volatility.
The sentiment was similar when respondents were asked if they believed that cryptocurrencies would be widely used in the near future, with 41 percent, or 419 people, saying yes while 58 percent believe that bitcoin will not be a part of our lives in the near future.
When asked what factors most concerning respondents about cryptocurrencies, 43 percent, or 440 people, cited cybercrime and hacking security risks, while 38 percent, or 386 people claimed that the recent price volatility concerned them most.
Government regulation or a ban accounted for 10 percent of people’s concern.
For the Dragon's Den generation, this idea is bound to appeal
The results are further evidence of a slow creep towards the mainstream of cryptocurrencies and, although not everyone’s convinced, there is no shortage of opinion on bitcoin and its accompanying technology.
Last month Baroness Mone, founder of lingerie company Ultimo and a member of the House of Lords announced her arrival in the cryptocurrency space with the ethereum-based Equi Tokens, a venture capital investment product which works very much the same way as bitcoin but with the coins’ price being underpinned by a number of start-ups and burgeoning businesses selected by Lady Mone and a board of entrepreneurs.
Lady Mone stressed each Equi token, currently worth $0.50 (36p), is an investment opportunity for everyone, including Lady Mone’s “grandmother”.
Doug Barrowman, Lady Mone’s partner described the bitcoin-inspired project as, “a people-powered investment movement” while Glen Goodman, a former ITV Business Correspondent turned full-time investor described the project as unusual, but exciting.
Mr Goodman told Express.co.uk: “It's very unusual to see such - shall we say - ‘mature’ investors launch a major crypto venture. It shows cryptocurrency is finally being taken seriously by major established players on the investment scene.
“For the Dragon's Den generation, this idea is bound to appeal. It's a new way of crowdfunding new businesses, with the added assurance for millennial investors that the firms have been pre-vetted by knowledgeable Dragon-types.”
Baroness Mone: 'You can't ignore crypto, it's too big!'
Earlier this week noises emanating from US banking giant JPMorgan showed how the mainstream is slowly changing its tune over bitcoin. JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has outspoken views on bitcoin, famously saying: ”If you're stupid enough to buy it, you'll pay the price for it one day.”
However, a branch of his firm recently told its clients that a bitcoin-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) could be the “holy grail for owners and investors”.
As cryptocurrencies move towards the mainstream, Daniele Bianchi, Assistant Professor of Finance at Warwick Business School, told Express.co.uk that JPMorgan’s move is a further step towards the "normalisation" of bitcoin and its legitimacy as an investment vehicle, which, he adds, remains ”highly speculative”.