A Pew Research Center report noted that most Americans’ confidence in the safety and reliability of cryptocurrency is low, but nonetheless, bitcoin continues to recover from last year’s bear market, pushing past the $30,000 price mark most recently.
Bullish investors in the leading cryptocurrency are betting that the U.S. Federal Reserve will start loosening monetary policy as it looks to get inflation under control. Additionally, alternative assets like bitcoin are seeing more interest, especially after the recent bank rescues lower confidence in the stability of the financial system.
“Bitcoin is by far doing the best out of the top 20 biggest digital assets. This may be in part because traders are expecting Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to slow the rate of interest rates due to the banking crisis, in turn make ‘risky’ assets like Bitcoin more appealing,” a Decrypt article said.
Alternative assets are also attracting more investors as the economy continues to flash signs of a recession. Bond markets are doing just that as more investors start to pile into safe haven assets, including bitcoin — this could re-establish bitcoin’s moniker as “digital gold.”
“Others are pushing the safe haven narrative: with current financial uncertainty, assets like Bitcoin and gold remain a safe bet when a recession is (still) apparently looming,” the article added.
Most Americans Not Confident in Crypto
Despite the recent push for bitcoin, it will still take some time for investors to allocate more capital into the cryptocurrency space. After an exponential rise in 2021, 2022’s bear market not only came with price declines, but also regulatory challenges — as such, bitcoin and other digital currencies may have lost investors and moreover, are having a hard time offering peace of mind to potential investors.
“Cryptocurrency markets are taking hits from all sides — from declines in value to multiple corporate bankruptcies to lawsuits and regulatory threats ,” a Pew Research Center blog noted. “Among the vast majority of Americans who say they have heard at least a little about cryptocurrency (88%), three-quarters say they are not confident that current ways to invest in, trade or use cryptocurrencies are reliable and safe, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted March 13-19. This comes out to about two-thirds of all U.S. adults.”
Nonetheless, in order for a market to mature, it must undergo such challenges. If digital currencies can exit the current market doldrums relatively unscathed, it could potentially re-attract investors again—Bitcoin is up almost 80% for the year, which could certainly help its case.
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