Jan Granroth: People are too stupid for cryptocurrencies

Institutional capital and Lightning Network are all well, but for the sake of the price – and legitimacy – of bitcoin an increased number of interested people is key.

Unfortunately, I think a big threshold for this to happen is that people, in general, are too uninterested and, thus, lack the knowledge necessary to even care about the advantages of cryptocurrencies. In other words, our words are falling on deaf ears.

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Nobody likes big banks

After the financial crisis in 2008, many were (with good reason) upset about how the situation could arise and the disliking towards the banking and finance sectors was widespread. Also today, many people are dissatisfied with the fees and service they provide.

Jonas Sjöstedt, leader of the Swedish Left Party, recently criticised the sizeable profits of the Swedish big banks, and regardless of political preferences, one can not deny the fact that they earn gigantic amounts of money on us.

Whether or not this should be addressed is a matter of opinion, but it is strange that so many people complain about the degree of power the banks possess, even though they surely keep their money in their accounts. Most likely even to zero interest.

Leftpartists in particular actually have a golden opportunity to stop feeding their bank by, at least to some extent, start utilizing cryptocurrencies. With the same logic, they should also appreciate the potential advantages that cryptocurrencies have to offer to people in developing countries, who today lack access to even the most basic financial services.

Convenience and lack of knowledge – the main obstacles

Regrettably, most of us are rather lazy and prefer to accept the situation in exchange for the convenience and safety that a bank account has to offer – at least on the surface. After all, banks get hacked all the time while bitcoin’s blockchain has stood up against all attacks since the start. The lack of knowledge, however, is the cause of many problems here too.

It is unfortunate that many do not possess adequate knowledge to even have a chance to get an interest in these issues, and this is probably where it has to start.

We need to strive for everybody to get hold of the knowledge needed to be able to make informed decisions regarding one’s financial matters. If so, the problem with financial advisors, who actually are camouflaged salesmen, would disappear immediately.

“If you are not getting a yield for your money, someone else is”

After all, it is an issue of equity since the less knowledgeable both get scammed and miss out on considerable yield due to the fact that they can not make sensible investment decisions.

It is also a fact that if you are not getting a yield for your money, someone else is and it is rather pointless to treat your bank with this.

When most people don’t have knowledge about nor interest for these fundamental issues, one can not expect them to understand the rather complex advantages and possibilities inherent in bitcoin. As a consequence, mass adoption will remain absent.

However, as opposed to the time for the last financial crisis, there are now plenty of innovative alternatives in fintech waiting for dissatisfied bank customers when the next crisis hits us.

Jan Granroth,
Reporter at Trijo News

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