Tech-Averse Consumers Most Interested in Crypto

It might sound counterintuitive, but the least tech-friendly consumers are the ones most likely to use cryptocurrency for payments.

Released in October, PYMNTS’ report, “Shopping With Cryptocurrency: Tech-Driven Consumers Drive Market Acceptance,” divided consumers into three groups: Basic-Tech; Mainstream; and Tech-Driven.

The report, a collaboration with BitPay, then asked about the main reason they have or would like to buy crypto.

Thirty-nine percent of the Basic-Tech respondents, who have fewer and simpler high-tech items than most, said “transactional reasons” — payments — were their main motivator.

They were also the least likely to buy crypto as an investment, with 36% choosing that answer. More than 52% of mainstream consumers chose investment, as did 42% of the Tech-Driven consumers.

Fear of missing out was the final, and least popular reason overall, with Tech-Driven consumers — those who own or use not only smartphones and laptops, but also wearables, connected cars, voice assistants and more — favoring it the most with 20%. That makes a fair bit of sense, as the most gadget-friendly consumers would be more likely to pay more attention to crypto and have the higher incomes to indulge those desires.

The mainstream consumers were by far the least interested in paying for goods and services with crypto. With just 26% favoring payments, the mainstream group was twice as interested in buying crypto as an investment — a far larger gap than the tech-friendly. The tech-averse were 3% more interested in payments than investments.