Survey: 48% Of Brazilians Want To Make Bitcoin A Legal Currency

Brazilians were the biggest supporters of El Salvador’s move among all countries surveyed and want to replicate that in their country.

A survey performed by Sherlock Communications through the research platform, Toluna, found that 48% of Brazilians think their country should adopt bitcoin, with 31% agreeing and 17% strongly agreeing with the idea, reported local news outlet Valor Investe. Besides Brazilians, the study also surveyed people from Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Mexico.

“Brazilians were the biggest supporters of recognizing bitcoin in the region, with 56% supporting El Salvador’s approach and 48% saying they want Brazil to adopt it too,” said the study.

When asked about the cryptocurrency outlook in Brazil, 31% of respondents said that they see progress in the country, while 35% said the South American country is still lagging behind other countries. Moreover, 23% of those surveyed said that there would be many more Bitcoin users in the future, and only 4% think there’s no future for that in Brazil.

The study found that Brazilians invest in Bitcoin mainly as an investment diversifier, with around 55% of respondents doing so. Protection from inflation and economic instability came in second, amassing 39% of Brazilians. On the other hand, 37% of respondents said they buy BTC and cryptocurrencies to keep up with technological trends, and 92% of those surveyed know about Bitcoin — compared to only 31% that know about Ethereum.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in Brazil “allow people to invest…in a regulated way, allowing more conservative investors to experiment with the cryptocurrency,” the study said, highlighting that there are over 1.4 million Bitcoin and cryptocurrency users in the country as well as 21 BTC ATMs.

According to Luiz Eduardo Abreu Haddad, consultant for Sherlock, the bitcoin market keeps growing in Latin America — a tendency he said is set to continue in the coming years.

“In Brazil, friendlier regulation has attracted institutional investors and corporations to the sector,” he said. “El Salvador’s experiment could become a big reference for Latin American countries on how to incorporate blockchain and cryptocurrencies to their economies and generate greater well-being to its citizens.”