Gen Z more likely to own crypto than stocks: Survey

A newly released Policygenius survey showed that younger Americans are almost as likely to own crypto as real estate.

According to the survey, which was commissioned in October of last year, 21% of the millennials and Gen Z’ers surveyed were almost as likely to own crypto as the 20% who own real estate.

Real estate has been a difficult market for younger generations to break into in the last few years — following a pandemic boom — as interest rates soared and median home prices made the American dream of buying a house less realistic.

Of those surveyed, 10% of Gen X’ers said they owned crypto. Perhaps unsurprisingly, only 5% of boomers owned crypto.

Looking further, Gen Z is more likely to own crypto over stocks, with only 18% of the younger generation owning the latter.

One in five Americans under the age of 42, Policygenius said, own crypto.

Very few of those surveyed owned NFTs. 9% of Gen Z owned NFTs, and millennials followed with 8%. Only 4% of Gen X’ers held NFTs, higher than the 1% of boomers. YouGov, which was commissioned by Policygenius, polled 4,000 Americans 18 years or older at the time.

Outside of crypto specifics, the survey also found that Gen Z and millennials feel “somewhat proud” of how they manage their finances.

While the survey was conducted before the Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin ETFs, and bitcoin hit new all-time highs, it helps to give a snapshot into how younger Americans are approaching crypto — whether the bull market is raging or not.

Bitcoin (BTC), however, posted a 28% gain in October of last year, floating around $30,000. It currently trades around $70,000 and the larger crypto market sits at a $2.6 trillion market cap.

In February of last year, Coinbase found that roughly 20% of Americans own crypto, though the survey sampled only 2,000 Americans.

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