Bitcoin Decentralized Finance (DEFI), also known as BTCFI, was presented as the next wave of innovation for the largest cryptocurrency in the world. However, research suggests bitcoin The holders themselves are barely engaging.
Some 77% of Bitcoin holders have never tried a BTCFI platform, according to a survey of more than 700 respondents across North America and Europe by the BTC Gomining mining ecosystem. Just over 10% said they had experienced once or twice, while only 8% said they were actively using BTCFI services for performance or loans.
The survey highlights a striking disconnection between the promise of the sector and its real scope.
“There is a huge appetite for these opportunities, but the industry has built products for cryptographic natives, not for everyday Bitcoin holders,” Gomining CEO, Mark Zalan, said in a statement.
This appetite appears in the data: 73% of respondents expressed their interest in gaining yield on their BTC through loans or milestones, while 42% want to access liquidity without selling. However, hesitation dominates. More than 40% said that they would allocate less than 20% of their assets to BTCFI products, stressing the problem of the trust and complexity of the sector.
Awareness gap
The most striking is perhaps how invisible industry is. Gomining noted that 65% of Bitcoin holders could not appoint a single BTCFI project.
Despite millions of venture capital funds, the BTCFI platforms seem to speak mainly to themselves rather than the market they are designed to serve.
The report argues that the BTCFI adoption problem can result from its dependence on the Ethereum DEFI model. Bitcoin users suggest Gomining, are more conservative: they promote childcare services, regulated ETFs and simplicity in relation to auto-customary experiences and complex protocols.
“Bitcoin holders are not ether users, “said Zalan.” Coinbase and Bitcoin Etf succeeded because they prioritize accessibility. BTCFI platforms which focus on education and user experience, rather than complex functionalities, will capture this market. “”
For industry, the survey is both a warning and an opportunity. Millions of Bitcoin holders want the performance and liquidity that BTCFI promises, but they must be welcomed with products they can trust and understand.
However, it should be kept in mind that respondents in the survey were a “random selection” of only 700 Gomining users.
Gomining is a BTC digital mining platform that connects users to real world extraction operations via digital tokens (NFT) of digital minors and a gamified ecosystem, so that the survey results are subject to the extent to which its users represent typical Bitcoin users.
“Our user base represents the universe of Bitcoin holders very well,” said a Gomining spokesperson in Coindesk by e-mail. “More than 80% of our users open their first cryptographic portfolio with us and enter the Bitcoin ecosystem via our digital mining product.”
