The world of blockchains and cryptocurrencies is exciting in many ways, in terms of technological innovation, monetary and economic revolution, inclusion and financial universalism… Unfortunately, some people are rushing into it a little too quickly, without really understanding the workings and stakes, as a recent survey shows.
A rather disturbing Oxford study on the lack of knowledge among crypto-investors
At the end of May this year, Oxford Risk’s behavioral finance firm conducted a survey in the UK of 1,038 investors in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
As Coindesk reports, among other things, it found that more than a third (36%) of first-time crypto investors admit to having had “little or no” knowledge of how these digital currencies work, before buying them for the first time.
Even more worrying, according to this survey, 21% of them would still be in this same state of ignorance of the mechanisms specific to exchanges via blockchain after their purchase.
Fortunately, all these young crypto investors seem to be quite cautious, as 81% indicate that they have only invested small amounts to start with. 41% of them have even invested less than 1% of their total savings.
Faced with this low knowledge of the British (and probably all crypto-investors) on the assets they invest in, we understand even more the problem if they do it through complex derivatives, such as futures contracts and their devastating leverage effects. All this certainly explains, the will of the FCA (the British financial regulator) to put the holm to this kind of financial products, especially on Binance.
