US social media users unlikely to use Libra, survey shows

U.S. social media users say they are unlikely to use Facebook’s cryptocurrency Libra, according to the research by financial services company Jefferies. More than 600 people have taken part in the survey, and four in five respondents said they were “Unlikely” or “Very unlikely” to buy the cryptocurrency.

The survey respondents have pointed towards a lack of trust in the social media giant as their biggest concern regarding Libra (45%) despite the fact that Facebook will not have access to consumer transaction data. Almost 40% also indicated they already have a mobile payment wallet, and saw no reason for using the Libra wallet.

However, there needs to be a broad-based adoption for Libra to scale successfully, the report reads. “Effectively, without substantial network effects, we do not expect Libra to replace existing forms of cashless payments—at least not in the near term.”

Those who would be interested in using Libra said they’d use it to goods and/or services (12%), use Libra as a way to send money to friends/family (14%), or the combination of both (15%).

However, the research points out that changing consumer purchasing behaviour does not happen overnight. In a cited survey data from PYMNTS, only a small fraction of iPhone and Android user based in the U.S. have tried Apple Pay and Android Pay—12.5 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively. Jefferies suggests that incentives will be needed to foster usage.