For many involved in the world of crytocurrencies, their use is as simple as handing over cash to pay for groceries in the supermarket. But do you ever wonder whether awareness of bitcoin is reaching the rest of the population?
The digital currency has featured heavily in the news over recent months, thanks largely to its astonishing price spikes and more recently with the news of Mt. Gox’s likely insolvency, so it would be fair to assume most people have heard of bitcoin and have some idea about how to use it, right?
It seems not. A new survey conducted in the UK by communications agency Clarity suggests that while just over half of people have heard of bitcoin, only 5% have used it, and 18% would consider using it. The rest disagreed (29%) or had no opinion (53%).
Reasons for this general reluctance were cited by Clarity as being down to “a level of indifference and a lack of understanding” concerning the young currency.
In turn, the survey revealed that 63% of the 2,065 online consumers polled admitted they did not know enough about bitcoin, while lack of experience and concerns about security were worries for just over half the people asked.
Concerns about the legality of bitcoin were an issue for 29% of respondents.
Niche currency
Clarity co-founder and bitcoin owner Jason Navon said the current awareness and usage of bitcoin are impressive, however:
“[Bitcoin] is still very much used by a niche audience.”
To address the issue “that British consumers lack understanding of digital currencies like bitcoin”, Clarity has come up with its own ‘bitcoin price index’ that lists a variety of items, divided into the categories: Daily Essentials, Out & About, Travel & Leisure and Bigger Ticket Items – each with their costs in bitcoin.
However, it should be noted that these price index conversions were carried out with 1 BTC being worth £420 ($703), so these prices may be a little higher in the current climate.
Bitcoin shopping list
So, if you have ever wondered how much of your stockpile of bitcoins you would burn up if you splashed out on a fancy London mews apartment, the answer is here: 16,547.619 BTC, based on a price of just below £7m ($11.7m).
Slightly more prosaically, some daily groceries were priced in bitcoin to give an idea of how much a trip to the corner store might set you back.
That loaf of bread we mentioned will cost 0.0024 BTC, 2.5 kilos of potatoes 0.0054 BTC and a whole chicken 0.0119 BTC.
Going upmarket
Luxury items like a romantic break in Paris will cost bitcoiners 1.6284 BTC, while a new VW Golf five-door automobile 47.9405 BTC and a flight into space with Virgin Galactic a mere 372.0238 BTC.
Getting the ball rolling
Clarity claims that people need to understand cryptocurrencies in the context of purchases, both big and small.
“Our bitcoin price index aims to start that process by showing people what things would cost in the digital currency.”
The full bitcoin ‘shopping list’ can be seen here.
For further information, why not check out our guides on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Shopping image via Shutterstock