Do you ever find yourself wishing to join in on the crypto conversation, but the concept and the big words scare you away? Maybe you want to delve into cryptocurrency, but you feel frustrated because you can’t wrap your head around it.
A lot of people feel overwhelmed by the complexities of cryptocurrency. You can read one sentence about the technology and close your tab straight away because of all the confusing jargon. If you’re feeling this way, you’re not the only one. Many people don’t use cryptocurrency because of how difficult it is to understand. This article explores how the complexity of cryptocurrency hinders its growth.
The Complexities of Cryptocurrency
If you’re a technology whizz and know a lot about cryptocurrencies, you may find it hard to explain it in simple terms for a newcomer. The concept of cryptocurrencies is complex, and it’s challenging to find an understandable and concise way to describe the phenomenon. Although the popularity of digital assets like Bitcoin has increased since 2009, there are still many people who don’t know how it works or how to invest in it.
We’ve heard about how people have made millions from a cryptocurrency investment, which can pique anyone’s interest. However, an average person who isn’t used to all the technical terms of software and trading will get lost in the process. If you go out and search for cryptocurrency on the web, you’ll be hounded by thousands of pages of in-depth explanations with confusing terminology. This can lead to you becoming extremely overwhelmed and giving up on even moving to the next step of investing.
If you get around the vast amount of information out there about cryptocurrency and manage to understand it, you’re then faced with other complexities of the technology. You can’t just learn about cryptocurrencies alone; you have to learn about blockchain, hot wallets, private/public keys, and many other topics associated with storing and trading digital assets. The amount you have to know seems never-ending, and you may feel like you’ll never get to the stage where you’ll know enough to get the most out of investing.
Even those who gain a solid grasp of the topic and know what coin they want to invest in face further hurdles. For example, you have chosen to invest in Bitcoin — where do you go and buy it, and what’s the best place to do it? You may have to create accounts on multiple exchanges, and each will have different user interfaces and membership requirements. Sometimes the process can be so long-winded to make an exchange account that you’ll want to pull your hair out in frustration.
And the complexity isn’t only present in the wide range of foreign terminologies; the experience of using a decentralized digital wallet or exchange can be so different from using your regular bank that it can make you feel like you’re trying to enter a new dimension. That realization itself can scare anyone away from crypto.
How People Feel About It
With so much information to gather about cryptocurrency, you may be wondering what people think about it. It’s been found that 75% of people find cryptocurrency transactions stressful and unnecessarily complicated.
The frustration of not understanding everything is enough to make someone stop using cryptocurrency. Across the web and Reddit, you can see how many people are getting fed up with the complexities. Reddit user @cbpiz even stated, “Why is this so darn complicated?”
A member of the CryptoCurrency community sarcastically stated how trading Bitcoin would be acceptable if only one part of it were difficult. However, they continued to say how every process involved in trading Bitcoin is complicated, and it appears as it can never be easy:
Some believe that there is simply no clear path for buying cryptocurrency. This is the first thing you need to do even to start trading. How can you trade if you can’t buy digital assets in the first place? Why are there so many barriers? Reddit user @JustYourTypicalNerd asks:
Even if you DO get hold of cryptocurrency and move on to the next stage, you face another difficulty: opening an account on an exchange. They ask for endless amounts of information and make you jump through all sorts of hurdles. To top it off, you may not even get access to the account for weeks. Here’s a response from another trader on crypto’s difficulty:
So, what do all the complexities mean for the future of cryptocurrency, and will it be able to grow into a mainstream form of currency? Some people don’t seem to think so but remain optimistic. A member of the Bitcoin Beginners community on Reddit shares their sentiment:
Less Complex Crypto = A Better Future
With so many people not understanding cryptocurrency, how it works, and how to trade it, it may not see much growth and come to a standstill. However, if there were a way to create a simple solution to such a complex concept, it could become even more popular. Cryptocurrency could eventually even become a mainstream form of finance.
When the Internet first came out, many people were afraid of it and didn’t know how it worked. This prevented people from using it, and they became frustrated with all its complexities. Over the years, we managed to develop completely user-friendly web browsers. It isn’t easy to come across someone who doesn’t use the Internet daily.
If there were a system in place that did most of the work for you, such as choosing the best exchange and best trade to make, cryptocurrency would attract more people to cryptocurrency. People already like the concept; they need a simple way to use it. Imagine a user-friendly browser or application that puts all the hard work in for you. It could be the future of mainstream cryptocurrency.
How Would You Make Cryptocurrency Simpler?
So, how do you think cryptocurrency could become simpler? Do you think an assistant like a user-friendly application would make you want to invest in cryptocurrency more? Are there any other things you’d like to put in place to make your cryptocurrency experience smoother?
If the complexities of cryptocurrency don’t bother you, are there any other problems you think need fixing? For example, the large number of different cryptocurrencies available may be an issue for you, and you don’t know which one to pick.
Let us know your thoughts. Join the conversation on Twitter.
