New Bitcoin Poll Shows Bubble Fears Among Investors

A new poll from Bloomberg has shed more light on the perception of bitcoin among professionals in the world of traditional finance.

Bloomberg’s poll

revealed that the fledgling currency is having trouble shaking its bubble image and that many financial professionals remain sceptical.

The majority of participants said bitcoin is currently trading at "unsustainable" levels.

Bloomberg’s poll did not involve the general public, instead focussing on 562 investors, analysts and traders that use its services.

Awareness was not an issue, but 55% percent of those surveyed said bitcoin is trading at unsustainable, "bubble-like" prices. On top of this, 14% said the currency was on the verge of a bubble, while 6% said a bubble is not forming. One quarter said they didn't know.

Bloomberg’s Olga Kharif argues that the results show scepticism even as “technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and hedge funds ploy money and effort into building [bitcoin] into a global payment system.”

A January poll by the organisation showcased further doubts from these players, with almost half of respondents bearish on the topic, saying they would sell rather than buy bitcoin. It is worth noting that bitcoin's price was significantly higher in January.

Just one month before, Bloomberg had released another poll which examined the perception of bitcoin among the average US consumer. The results indicated that 42% of Americans could correctly identify bitcoin as a digital currency, but also revealed that many people who knew bitcoin harboured reservations about its legitimacy.

Surprisingly, 6% of those who took part thought bitcoin was an Xbox game, while another 6% were convinced it was an iPhone app.

By contrast, a poll of 847 tech professionals by events company Tech in Motion revealed that over half of participants (51.1%) responded “yes, absolutely” when asked if they would like to be paid in the digital currency. Only 1.18% of those who took part said they had no idea what bitcoin was.

Correction: A previous version of this article cited a 2013 poll of US Americans by YouGov, this has been removed.