John McAfee Polls Community Revealing ‘Biggest Threat to Crypto’

Computer security entrepreneur John McAfee has made quite a name for himself in the crypto sphere. Social media plays a monumental role in the industry, and McAfee has taken to it by storm. His comments and altcoin pumps have caused spikes and troughs on the charts, but now he has taken to surveying the crypto community, producing some interesting results.

The soi-disant crypto warlord has moved on from coin shills into ICOs and has even recently Tweeted offering services writing white papers. Over the past couple of days, he has taken the unprecedented step of polling his followers and those with an avid interest in cryptocurrencies.

Big Response

Over 400,500 responses were recorded to a series of 9 questions he posted on his Twitter feed. The results offer an interesting insight to the mindset and demographics of those currently dabbling in cryptocurrencies.

In the first poll, the ages of the crypto community were surveyed, and it came as no surprise that around half the people were between 18 and 30. What was quite a shock, though, is that only 4% of those surveyed were over 50, indicating that they prefer more traditional investment vehicles (or they don’t follow McAfee on Twitter).

The frequency of buying and selling cryptocurrencies was the subject of question two, and 42% responded with once a month or less, indicating that they were hodling and investing rather than day trading. Less than 20% of those that responded were trading cryptocurrencies on a daily basis.

Interest in the type of cryptocurrency came next, and over 40% said that altcoins held the greatest attention for them. Roughly 27% each selected Bitcoin/Ethereum or all currencies, and only 5% admitted that they invested in ICOs.

When asked the percentage of one’s total assets invested in cryptocurrencies, it was very surprising to see that almost a third of those surveyed had over 50% of their funds in crypto. To balance that out, 35% said it was less than 10%, which would be more advisable for those that don’t like big risks, which evidently isn’t the millennials.

Nearly 60% answered that their primary use for cryptocurrencies was for investment purposes only, with 38% using them for both investment and as a currency. As global adoption increases and it becomes easier, faster, and cheaper to transfer them, this ratio is likely to shift.

Crypto and fiat co-existing was the majority vote on this question. However 27% thought, or probably hoped, that crypto would eventually replace fiat.

It came as no surprise that 55% of those surveyed said that governments were the greatest threat to cryptocurrencies. 30% were of the opinion that banks are, though banks are generally controlled by their governments.

Registering with exchanges posed the biggest obstacle for getting started with cryptocurrencies. When centralized profit-making exchanges are replaced and the entire network is peer-to-peer, cryptocurrencies will truly shine.

Not surprisingly, almost a third of all respondents were students.

Although this survey was very restricted with its participants to begin with, it does open a window into the psyche of the average crypto aficionado: young, optimistic, and willing to take a risk. A demographic that is the total opposite of the older skeptics, old school bankers, and corporate bosses that have already accrued the majority of their wealth.

Did you take part in the John McAfee poll? Does his poll validate your beliefs or not? Share your thoughts on it in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Twitter/@officialmcafee and Flickr/@Gage Skidmore