Digital currencies, since their inception in 2009, have been growing and reaching more and more users globally. Bitcoin, with the first-mover advantage, has become the most widely used cryptocurrency.

However, there still exists a large part of global population that is completely unaware of this emerging new financial landscape. This has been highlighted by a recent survey. According to the result site, the survey was taken from a “pretty huge” torrent tracker website. Also, as the votes consist of random people on a non crypto orientated website, the results should represent fairly accurate results on general public perception.

According to the results, 21% respondents believe that cryptocurrencies will be the future, 9% respondents said that they have used cryptocurrencies at least once; 20% perceive cryptocurrencies as a Ponzi scheme; while a whopping 50% have no knowledge about cryptocurrencies.

One interpretation of the results is that cryptocurrencies still have a long way to go for widespread adoption. People are not using cryptocurrencies even when they know about it. Various scams and hacks over the years have marred the reputation of digital currencies. This is evident as a considerable section of respondents said they think of cryptocurrencies as Ponzi scheme.

Andrew Cox, team lead at Sandia that is helping law enforcement get a better handle on tracking illicit digital currency transactions, recently said:

“In many ways figuring out how to effectively combat illicit Bitcoin commerce and reduce its perception as a tool of criminals can encourage more people and companies to adopt Bitcoin for legitimate purposes.”

In addition, the result has underscored the need for efforts focusing on educating the masses about cryptocurrencies – their advantages, risks and basic operation – which will hopefully bring more people into the cryptocurrency ecosystem.