Respondents to a Twitter poll from the Bank of England overwhelmingly chose cryptocurrency as their favorite way to receive money as a Christmas gift.
Launched on December 17, the poll asked people to choose between digital currency, cash, bank transfer, and a gift voucher. 75% of the 16,799 voters said they prefer digital currency, while 18% responded with cash. The poll ended on December 24.
The comments on the Twitter thread centralized around what type of cryptocurrency people would want.
If you receive money as a gift at Christmas, what’s your favourite way to get it?
How will we use money in years to come? Join the #FutureForumBoE discussion at https://t.co/EKRXyJZp9d
— Bank of England (@bankofengland) December 17, 2018
Most said bitcoin was an obvious choice, but a few indicated they would like to receive altcoins like Litecoin or Ethereum.
Polls Suggest Long-Term Interest In Cryptocurrency
Even though markets have suffered in 2018, a couple of polls still suggest people are excited and interested in cryptocurrency for the future. CryptoGlobe reported on an AEVI poll from October that asked respondents to choose what would win the “payments race” for 2018. 68% responded with cryptocurrency. 16% said it would be “card.”
Former congressman Ron Paul posted a Twitter poll in November that asked people what store of value they would choose to receive a $10,000 gift in if they could not have access to it for a decade. Bitcoin was the choice for half of the 94,894 respondents. 37% said gold, while 11% picked U.S. 10-year Treasury Bonds.
Bank Of England Wary Of Cryptocurrency
Some people found the Twitter poll from the Bank of England interesting because of the central bank’s reservations towards crypto. In June, it released a letter to bank CEOs, insurers, and investment firms to warn about how crypto-assets “may give rise to reputational risks.”
An official noted how crypto-assets have had high volatility “in their short history” and run the risk of becoming vulnerable to fraud, manipulation, money-laundering, and terrorist financing. The letter did note the technologies underpinning cryptocurrency maintain “significant potential to benefit the efficiency and resilience of the financial system.”
A spring survey from UK market research company D-CYFOR found how most Britons would not support a Bank of England-backed cryptocurrency linked to the British pound.
