91% of Americans have heard of crypto, but DeFi, Web3 still unknown

• 91 percent of Americans have heard of crypto, a new report has found, indicating that the industry has gained nearly universal appeal.
• However, Web3 and DeFi remain relatively unknown despite the hype they have been getting from media outlets and within the crypto ecosystem.

Crypto has gained nearly universal appeal in the U.S, a new survey has found. The survey revealed that 91 percent of Americans have at least heard of cryptocurrencies and one in five has at some point owned one, but the number that has heard about Web3 and decentralized finance (DeFi) is much smaller.

The survey was conducted between February 16-23 by Morning Consult and involved 4,404 adult American respondents. It found that there is a wide variation in knowledge of DeFi, Web3 and NFTs between people who own crypto and those that don’t.

For NFTs, the number of crypto owners who are aware is 87 percent while just half the non-crypto owners have heard about the digital collectibles. At 50 percent, NFTs are doing relatively well, given the industry has only blown up in the past year.

A lot of this popularity can be attributed to the presence of celebrities in the sector, many of whom have minted and sold their own NFTs and others who have spent millions to purchase NFTs from popular collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club.

Blockchain comes in at 83 percent among crypto owners and 39 percent among the non-crypto masses. DeFi ranks even lower at 31 percent among the non-crypto people.

Web3, the decentralized iteration of the Internet in which users own their data and payments are done primarily in tokens, ranks lowest at 21 percent among those that don’t own any crypto.

With 19 percent of Americans saying they own crypto, Morning Consult believes that it’s only a matter of time before Web3 and DeFi become mainstream as well. It all starts with hearing about crypto before it spreads to the other sectors, Charlotte Principato, the company’s financial services analyst who compiled the survey, noted.

Cryptocurrency is not only the foundation upon which DeFi and Web3 are built, but is the gateway to familiarity with these concepts among consumers. As cryptocurrency adoption grows, increasing awareness of these ideas will follow.

Morning Consult further noted that American consumers are increasingly pushing for financial change. Beneath their exploration of crypto, these consumers desire more convenient, cost-effective, efficient, and secure financial services.

“This isn’t out of necessity, but preference: 66 percent of adults say they look for ways to manage their money better, and another 40 percent agree that there’s a lack of innovation in financial services,” the survey found.

This desire for better financial services, especially services that give them more control of their finances, could be the biggest factor that leads many to adopt cryptocurrencies, DeFi, and other services.

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