Cryptocurrencies: brief account of their origin and the ability of students Marcos Antonio Santos de Jesus, Fernando José Cesilio Branquinho, Antonio Carlos Marques Amaral Guerra, Luiz Antonio Ferrara Mathias, Felipe Caravante Calazans, João Vitor de Almeida Pimentel, Pedro Henrique de Macedo e Souza

Abstract

It is observed that in the last decade there has been an increasing expansion in the use of virtual currencies (cryptocurrencies). This topic became the subject of debate at important national and international congresses. This exponential growth and rapid geographic expansion of the use of cryptocurrencies draws the attention of economists, financial authorities, researchers and businesspeople in all parts of the globe. Are we all moving towards markets that will only use virtual currencies? Or will we end up with fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies operating simultaneously? We still don't have an answer to that question. Only time and the global economy will bring answers to this question. The present study aimed to verify the degree to which university students operate with cryptocurrencies, as well as their economic practice with them. In this study, a sample of 104 university students was used. To collect data, a questionnaire prepared on Google Forms was used. The study showed that 70.2% of the subjects surveyed do not operate in the cryptocurrency market, while 29.8% are active in these operations. Regarding the influence of technology on the cryptocurrency market, a statistically significant difference was found for the male and female genders p > 0.05. In this way, it is possible to affirm that male respondents, when compared to female subjects, believe more that the development of new technologies is influencing the cryptocurrency market. The significance level was a = 0.050, that is, p < 0.05 was established for a parameter such as decision-making in the statistical analyzes presented