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In 2022, the cryptocurrency market shuddered literally in all directions. Crypto‘s market cap fell below $1 trillion, and Bitcoin dropped 65% from an all-time high. But despite these circumstances, a new report from blockchain intelligence firm Chainlaysis has found that crypto adoption has slowed less than expected despite a bearish start of the year for the cryptocurrency market. In fact, it’s still above pre-bull market levels from 2019.
Some countries dominating the adoption index have different socioeconomic situations, from lower middle income to above median income and high incomes. Some of the countries include Vietnam, the Philippines, Ukraine, India, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, The United States and The United Kingdom.
Data suggest that people, startups and large companies have stuck with cryptocurrencies and blockchain despite the crypto winter. They continue to pour significant portions of capital into digital assets and their underlying technology. And no surprise: blockchain offers numerous advantages and benefits not only to individuals but also to entrepreneurs and businesses from different industries.
The benefits that crypto and blockchain bring to the table can become an effective solution for some of the pain spots for today’s businesses and their customers, but this requires extensive crypto education.
Related: How Crypto Education Can Boost the FinTech Industry
What Is cryptocurrency?
The most popular Google searches about cryptocurrencies are: “what is cryptocurrency,” “how to invest in crypto,” “how does crypto work,” etc. After almost 15 years since being created, there’s still a lack of educational content and resources for people and institutions to understand and adopt cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.
This lack of crypto education leads people to make uninformed decisions when investing in cryptocurrencies, usually ending in a somewhat worse performance than they initially thought. For example, a recent survey shows that almost 50% of Americans who have invested in crypto say it has “done worse than expected.” Despite this, over 60% of US parents believe children should learn about cryptocurrency in schools.
Related: 5 Things to Know Before You Invest in Cryptocurrency
Why crypto education is necessary for crypto adoption
To reach mass-scale adoption, it’s necessary to spread financial literacy for crypto assets and blockchain education to understand how this technology and the overall crypto space work —and make education more accessible.
A more educated user is less likely to fall for the usual traps in the crypto world, such as rug pulls or phishing scams. Businesses can benefit from exploring and adopting blockchain technology and avoid certain pain spots.
For instance, the immutable nature of blockchain doesn’t allow chargeback; transactions are instant and irreversible. And chargeback is often used as a tool to commit friendly fraud, a significant pain for merchants due to false positives, operation costs, chargeback fees, and fines, which had caused small and mid-size businesses to spend over $35 billion in 2021.
Should businesses be crypto-educated?
Businesses can scale internationally via low-cost and fast international payments using cross-border blockchain-based solutions. Moreover, the Ethereum Merge signifies a significant step for the blockchain to become more scalable, cost-efficient, and energy-efficient for its users and enterprises seeking to build on its ecosystem.
The Merge successfully transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS). This means the network doesn’t need to rely on miners to create and validate transaction blocks but on a set of network nodes that stake ETH to validate and create those blocks, reducing energy consumption by 99%.
Related: It’s Time To Get Interested In Ethereum Again
How are institutions and universities spreading crypto education?
Luckily enough, numerous initiatives are being taken by crypto institutions, universities and even countries across the globe, not only on a financial level but on a technical level as well. Popular examples of universities are the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). From an early age, crypto education should be accessible to everyone interested in this sector. It will guarantee future prosperity and accelerated adoption. Global universities can help society to get educated about crypto.
Blockchain firms are also funding numerous universities to help accelerate research and growth. Other examples are the Algorand Foundation, which invested over $50 million in funding for a virtual research program.
As mentioned earlier, the Philippines is one of the leading countries in the crypto adoption rate, and one of the main reasons is that nearly 80% of Filipinos are unbanked. Philippine universities will offer free courses on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after a senate hearing discusses financial inclusion and regulatory frameworks for the country.
Several crypto institutions offer vast educational content on all things crypto. These and other companies also provide training courses and interactive videos where people can learn about crypto and earn rewards by completing quizzes.
Lack of crypto education prevents mass adoption
The lack of crypto education is what hinders crypto adoption after almost 15 years of being created. The good side of the story is that institutions are taking numerous initiatives, firms, universities, and countries worldwide. The next two or three years are primordial to massively spread crypto and blockchain education and resources so users, developers, startups, and businesses of all sizes can start investing in it too.
Fuad Fatullaev
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