More than one-third of investors still avoid crypto, mainly because they are afraid of making mistakes. At the same time, 70% are open to using it in everyday life, especially for payments. This creates a clear gap between curiosity and actual use, according to a recent survey by Maclear among European investors[1].
Security failures dominate public perception of crypto, from high-profile exchange collapses to large-scale hacks, and the data reflects this. Yet fear of scams and fraud, while real, is only part of the picture. According to the survey, 35% of non-users cite lack of confidence and poor understanding of how crypto works as their primary barrier, not external threats, but internal ones. This distinction matters: platform failures can be addressed by regulation, but knowledge gaps require a different response entirely.
The State of Crypto Adoption in Europe and Its Major Barriers
Crypto adoption is already widespread, but usage remains shallow. Nearly half of respondents—48%—report using cryptocurrencies in some form. Stablecoins show even stronger traction: 41% of respondents hold them, and adoption rises to 85% among those who have ever used crypto.
Usage patterns reinforce this. The primary activity is investment, cited by 55% of crypto users. Around 25% use crypto as a form of savings or value storage. In other words, crypto is largely treated as a financial asset to hold, not spend daily. Only 6% report using crypto weekly. Yet the potential is broader: crypto can already support everyday activities such as peer-to-peer payments, cross-border transfers, paying for digital services, and participating in decentralized finance tools.
Security concerns continue to shape perception. High-profile incidents—such as exchange failures like FTX, large-scale hacks like Mt. Gox, or phishing scams targeting users’ wallets—have reinforced the idea that crypto is risky. These events dominate headlines and create a strong psychological barrier.
However, many users hesitate because they lack confidence in navigating the system safely. Fear of making irreversible mistakes and limited familiarity with digital assets are cited by 35% of respondents as key barriers. Complexity comes close behind, with 32% pointing to difficulties in getting started or using crypto services. This creates a paradox: crypto is designed to be accessible and user-driven, yet it is perceived as complicated and unforgiving. Small mistakes—like sending funds to the wrong address—can feel high-stakes, which discourages experimentation and daily use.
What It Takes to Make Crypto Part of Daily Life
Most users are not rejecting crypto. Only a third of respondents are strongly against using it for payments. What they are missing is trust. Stronger consumer protection is the most requested improvement, cited by 38% of respondents.
This includes clearer safeguards against fraud, such as verified platforms, stricter controls on listings, and faster response mechanisms when issues arise. Increased transparency is equally important: users want to see exactly where their money is going and who is responsible if something goes wrong.
Some platforms are already responding to this demand. 8lends, for instance, has built its lending infrastructure entirely on-chain, making every transaction publicly verifiable in real time — an approach that removes the need to trust a platform’s internal reporting. This kind of structural transparency is still the exception in crypto, not the rule.
«The barrier isn’t technology, it’s accountability. Our data shows that 47% of European investors already treat crypto as a backup financial system, yet the same people hesitate to use it for a €50 payment. That gap exists because users don’t know who to call when something goes wrong. Until crypto platforms answer that question as clearly as a bank does, daily adoption will stay stuck at the awareness stage,» says Alexander Lang, CFO at 8lends.
The next phase of crypto adoption will depend less on innovation and more on whether the industry can deliver the same level of trust, clarity, and accountability that users expect from traditional finance.
To learn more about the report, please visit the following link.
Boilerplate
8lends is a P2B lending platform that lets individual investors from all over the world fund real business loans and earn up to 25% annually, with all transactions conducted in USDC.
The platform was launched in 2025 by Maclear AG, a regulated P2B marketplace from Switzerland. Together, the two platforms have facilitated over €100M in business lending across 34,000+ investors, with just one recorded default (where every investor recovered 100% of their principal) and zero late loans to date.
While Maclear enables investments in real businesses using fiat, 8lends brings the same institutional-grade model to the global crypto community, allowing investors to fund real businesses in USDC without market volatility or the opacity of DeFi. Each loan on 8lends is secured by real business assets (collateral), evaluated across 40+ risk parameters, and managed through smart contracts (audited by CertiK and Cyberscope) that automate repayment flows.
The platform is independently audited and supervised by PolyReg, Switzerland’s leading financial self-regulatory body.
1. Methodology: The survey targeted European investors interested in alternative investment instruments. Data collection took place between February and March 2026. In total, 500 respondents from European countries participated in the study.to
