💳 credit, debit, or bit?
it’s been some time since TSLA 0.00 (tesla) began accepting bitcoin as payment for car purchasers and el salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender since september last year
we’d expect that cryptocurrency is now an integral part of everyday transactions (rather than just buying web3 things), but really to what extent has it become?
turns out, not that much…
though nine in ten americans say they've heard of crypto, only 16% say they've ever held crypto
another survey by the fed suggests that just 12% of americans used crypto in 2021, largely as an investment and not as a currency
notably, only 2% said they used crypto to buy something or make a payment
here’s something interesting…
results of that fed survey suggest that crypto was primarily seen as an investment vehicle by mostly high-income citizens
imo: in the end, it’s only those with extra extra dry powder that’d have the comfort of dabbling with such a novel and highly volatile asset (rationally speaking)
the survey also suggests that the 2% who used crypto as a payment method were more likely to be “unbanked, lower income, and without a credit card”
per yahoo finance / fed:
“nearly 6 in 10 [of those 2%] earned less than $50,000, and 13% lacked a bank account — compared with 6% of adults who did not use cryptocurrency.”
“more than a quarter of transactional crypto users lacked a credit card, versus 17% of non-crypto users.”
imo: not sure how i feel about that
on the bright side, yes, crypto opens up a new option of payment for those with less opportunities or optionalities in the traditional financial system
but on the other hand, so much of the price movements of crypto itself that these low-income users depend on are most likely moved by high-income, high-volume accounts trading their ways in and out
36% of employees want to be paid in crypto (per sofi), and im guessing one of the main reasons is the aspect of instant paycheck transfer (rather than having to wait a few days for the bank to process it), which i have a feeling is a more attractive and immediate for those “living paycheck to paycheck”
crypto’s awesome, but history always tells us that awesome things can have dark sides to it as well.
maybe i need to learn more to have a better opinion / conclusion. i’ll keep y’all updated with my learnings!
💡 something im thinking about
that's all, folks 🐒
as always, i’m no financial advisor! (i’m no substitute for professional financial services)
