More than half of Russians have some knowledge about bitcoin, according to a new survey recently conducted. Knowledge is greater among young people and in the main cities. 185,000 publications in the media have released the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is the most popular word in Russian social networks.
After a great year for bitcoin, the Russians have already known it. According to a recent survey conducted by the company VCIOM, the "Center for the Study of Public Opinion of All Russia" 56% already knows it. Of the users surveyed active on the Internet, the number of connoisseurs is 66%.
The awareness among young Russians has reached 75% (18 to 24 years of age), and 71% among all men. 74% of the residents of the capital, Moscow, and the second largest city, St. Petersburg, also know the cryptocurrency.
Few of the informed, however, possess a deep knowledge of bitcoin. Only a third of them know that anyone can get it, 34%, and 16% think that bitcoin is actually forbidden in Russia. However, more than a quarter knows that coins are not only bought, but can also be extracted (29%). Another 44% know that collecting them is not legalized in Russia.
Best known as a means of payment
Although they are often described as an asset and defined as "other property", 40% of study participants know that they can use bitcoin to buy and sell goods and services. The question about how it is safe to keep the funds in the block chain divides the Russians. 36% of them believe that it is difficult to steal digital cash. Skeptics, who think it's easy, make up 33% of this survey.
According to the study, Bitcoin is not very popular as an investment opportunity in Russia. Two thirds of the people who know him, or 67%, consider that spending fiduciary rubles in bitcoins is not profitable. Only 9% of all Russians believe they will buy the cryptocurrency in the future.
A recent survey conducted by an Indonesian company showed that less than half of Russian citizens expected widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies in the next decade. The Russians questioned by VCIOM say that the main reason for their anxiety is insufficient information about bitcoin. The findings of another Russian study, however, point to a trend that can change that evaluation.
According to data compiled by Medialogia, the number of publications related to bitcoin in the Russian media increased last year to more than 185,000, reaching a maximum of 56,000 in December. Changes in rates, record levels and the growing number of bitcoin billionaires have been widely covered.
Bitcoin tops social media rankings
"Биткоин" (Bitcoin) has climbed to the top among the most popular words on Russian social networks. It has been mentioned in 6,543,800 publications, revealed the statistics of Medialogia. "Блокчейн" (Blockchain) is the second with about 1.8 million messages in 2017. The Russian words for cryptocurrency, mining and ethereum have also reached the top 10, and ICO is number 11.