Facebook and Libra both fail the public opinion test

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All sorts of opinions have already been expressed about Facebook’s upcoming digital currency, Libra. Governments think it could help criminals and destabilize economies. Crypto enthusiasts either see it as a threat or a stepping stone to Bitcoin. Now, thanks to Civic Science, we know what some of the general public thinks, too. 

This may be a surprise to some, but the general sentiment of 2100 adults is not to trust Libra. 77% of respondents said they simply do not trust Facebook with either their data, or their money. Only 2% indicated that they trusted Facebook “a lot.” This is a big shift from an earlier survey, where an 86% majority indicated that they didn’t much care about Libra one way or another.

Although not trusting Facebook is different than not caring about Libra, this new survey could be colored by world government’s reactions to the new currency. In the U.S., Congress used Libra’s announcement to lay out a laundry list of problems it has with Facebook, and why the social media giant shouldn’t be trusted with anyone’s money.

What’s really revealing though is Facebook’s comparative trust to other currencies. While the majority indicated no interest in Bitcoin, 40% of respondents indicated they trust Libra less or much less than any cryptocurrency. That was the biggest response for that question, with only 1% trusting Libra more than other cryptos, and 39% not having an opinion.

Other than the revealing answers about Libra, the survey also had notable adoption numbers for cryptocurrencies in general. 21% claimed to have never heard of cryptocurrency before, and 66% are still uninterested in the topic. It was an event split, 3% each, for those who had invested and liked using crypto versus those who did not enjoy it, with a final 7% still planning to get into the service.

These results spell out a lot of bad news for Libra, but prove experts like Bitcoin Association Founding President Jimmy Nguyen right. Now that Libra has gotten the conversation started, there’s a huge portion of the world who will learn more about digital currencies. And if they don’t trust Facebook with their money, they may turn to reputable, regulation friendly options like Bitcoin SV instead.

https://youtu.be/gBb9FSxfyVs