Access to cryptocurrency is hindered by the lack of crypto and financial literacy caused by the gap in wealth, technological stress and the excessive use of terminology.
Accessibility is a major issue for the adoption of cryptocurrency that has been debated for a long time but it’s as relevant. This issue was just acknowledged in government officials from United States government as we’ve witnessed Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discuss during her remarks about digital assets policy and regulation. There are many barriers restricting access to cryptocurrency like technology and financial education which is our obligation as leaders and developers in this new sector to overcome these issues.
Research has revealed that just 33% of people all over the world are financially educated. With a myriad of initiatives in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector that focus on providing people with no the traditional access to financial institutions with the tools to earn, save and trading it is an important factor to take into account.
Traditional financial institutions definitely have other hurdles that cryptocurrency projects have to overcome like the requirement for documents, expensive fees, and a general absence the presence of financial establishments in local the emerging markets. However, even DeFi requires understanding and knowledge of money to successfully move into the market. A thorough education about the fundamental elements of finance, ranging from tips on saving to market volatility is essential to help those who feel marginalized by traditional finance to join to the DeFi world.
Cryptocurrency education and technostress
Another essential component of education is blockchain and cryptocurrency education. The latest technology can be confusing and overwhelming for new users who aren’t familiar with it -this is so widespread it’s”technostress” is the phrase “technostress” was coined to identify this issue.
The use of technical language and the frequent use of jargons are two problems I’ve seen in the field that discourage those who are interested in crypto from pursuing the fascinating universe of DeFi. Offering resources that explain the basics that are involved in the field of Blockchain Technology, whether it’s blog posts or explanation videos can help close the huge gap in information between developers and ordinary people. While this is a great beginning, the reality is that education needs one essential and scarce resource: time.
The amount of time and effort required to understand the basics of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology can prove to be a huge obstacle to gaining the deep knowledge required to be able to enter into the field. While offering simple, easy education tools can be helpful but it is a service that serves a very small population. Therefore, cryptocurrency education and financial literacy is important, but there are additional steps that developers and leaders need to adopt to ensure user acceptance. The project leaders must also take into consideration the gaps in knowledge as they create their platform and develop messages. Making use of a simple, succinct language that is able to be understood by every audience is crucial in welcoming new users.
How the wealth gap serves as a barrier
As we’ve mentioned that the wealth gap is a source of numerous challenges for those with lower incomes to get into the market. Along with an inability to access or time to study and access to financial resources, liquidity issues are another major obstacle to the entry.
To invest, one need to be able to pay their expenses by putting aside funds to be allocated elsewhere. If you live from paycheck to paycheck or who aren’t confident about putting their funds into investment, they’re less likely to invest money into savings accounts for investment.
This is especially true of digital assets as they’re more recent and unregulated than traditional investment options. In the future, loans that are not regulated will allow people who are less liquid to invest in the market which is a major driving force behind the mainstream adoption of crypto. Initiatives, like Teller Finance, that allow people to borrow crypto assets without putting up collateral are pushing the market ahead. This market will continue to expand and is vital to increase access.
How leaders and developers can navigate these barriers
Since developers are focused on ease of use and simplicity for their customers and their platforms must reflect these considerations. Signing-up is the initial step for any potential user, so making sure that the sign-on process is easy can help you make a an unforgettable first impression. If there are a lot of complex steps to create an account, users won’t want to continue. The simple Know Your Customer identification rather than a series of complicated procedures is one way in which initiatives can improve their customer experience onboarding.
Another route that projects can consider is establishing an extensive community of collaborators. According to the particular plan, it could include compatible blockchains or integration with decentralized applications or joining initiatives such as Celo’s DeFi for the People that seek to improve the real-world application scenarios. There are a lot of projects that are in the field, but often that have limited interoperability and this means that users must manage several accounts and programs. In order to make the platform you’re using as wide and interoperable as is possible requires offering users numerous options to utilize your platform with compatible software and applications, which encourages them to take advantage of your services.
The continued growth of the blockchain industry demands a constant flow of new users in the space. In order to do this we, as an industry need to develop projects with the new customers in the forefront. Making educational content available will be the initial step in making a solid foundation which will enable us to transform the way we work.
Be aware that this isn’t for all users, and finding other ways to encourage new users to enter the crypto community is vital. Offering loans without collateral helps fill the wealth gap has been observed throughout the the development of crypto and its increased acceptance. Making sure that your customers are aware of throughout the entire process from the design phase to the messaging to the services you offer is equally important. The goal is for Blockchain technology to become integrated into applications to the point that users do not even know they’re on-chain. If our apps are as simple and easy to understand as classic financial apps that people have downloaded in the millions, we’ll witness an increase in the number of users unlike anything else.
This article is not intended to provide any investment advice or suggestions. Each investment and trade has a risk and readers must do their own research prior to making an investment decision.
The thoughts, views and opinions expressed in this article are solely the author’s and are not intended to reflect the views or opinions of Jangopedia.
Fabrice Cheng is the co-founder, CEO and chief technology officer at Quadrata. He was the previous chief Blockchain technology for Spring Labs. Fabrice is a highly skilled technologist who has been working within the Ethereum ecosystem since the year 2016, with a special focus on the best way to extract value from mempools, and is also an Ethereum 2.0 open-source contributor to Prysmatic Labs.
