Portuguese fail on digital financial literacy

Only half of all Portuguese who use the internet are aware that they can lose money investing in cryptoassets.

That is the conclusion of the first survey into the digital financial literacy of the Portuguese population organised by the OECD in a project with the Bank of Portugal which will be presented today.
All told 1,516 were quizzed, all over the age of 16. Of these, 76% used the Internet (mostly via mobile smartphones).
The evaluation into digital financial literacy included three questions on crypto assets and on two less than 50% replied correctly.
One of the questions asked if the State regulated cryptoassets (43% responded correctly that it doesn’t) and when asked of cryptoassets such as bitcoin or ethereum were legal tender like bank notes and coins (40% responded correctly that it isn’t).
On the statement ‘you cannot lose money if you invest in cryptoassets’ just 55% got the answer right. In all cases the percentage that didn’t respond was high (between 38% and 51%), which the OECD believes shows a limited knowledge of cryptoassets.
However, the scenario was less bleak when investors in cryptoassets were canvassed with 70% of the users of these assets answering the questions correctly.
From among these, 78% understood that the State does not regulate cryptoassets, 79% understood that could lose money, and 74% knew it did not have the same legal backing as physical currency.
Only 5% of internet users with a bank account have used cryptoassets (9% among women and 2% among men), with just the 25-39 years age group having an above average knowledge and bought them online.
There were also two small groups (9% each) who had received cryptoassets as payments or who mined them.