New poll reveals that ignorance damns.

“Some people, when they don’t know what something is, want to ban it,” says Reason-Rupe polling director Emily Ekins. “Other people, if they don’t know what something is, they think it should be allowed unless it’s causing someone harm in some way. And this question really delineates who those individuals are that favor choice and favor prohibition.”

Only 19 percent of respondents had “a lot” or “some” knowledge of bitcoin, but that didn’t stop 47 percent of them from saying they wanted to ban it. However, the more someone claimed to know about bitcoin, the less likely he or she was likely to want to prohibit it, with 71 percent of respondents who claimed to know “a lot” about bitcoin saying it should be allowed and, on the other side of the spectrum, only 27 percent of those who claimed to “know nothing” about it wishing to allow it. Among groups polled, the strongest supporters of bitcoin included young people (ages 18-29), gamers, and political independents.