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Gen Z is eschewing traditional investments, and one-fifth of young Americans invest in Crypto

Over one-fifth of US youth possess cryptocurrency, according to a PolicyGenius study conducted on April 9. This is because younger people invest in cryptocurrency four times more frequently than older generations do.

Ages 18 to 26 make up Gen Z, and they have the biggest preference for cryptocurrency over traditional investments: 20% of Gen Z respondents own cryptocurrency, compared to 18% who own equities, 13% who own real estate, and 11% who own bonds.

22% of millennials between the ages of 27 and 42 who possess cryptocurrency invest in it somewhat more frequently than Gen Z respondents.

Millennials owning cryptocurrency did not, however, outpace traditional investing rates, with 24% invested in real estate and 27% in stocks. Just 16% of the age group invests in bonds, indicating a lower level of popularity.

The Gap Between Generations

In absolute terms, each generation’s investment rates show some interest in cryptocurrencies, but when compared to earlier generations, the numbers are extremely noteworthy.

According to PolicyGenius, the two oldest generations reported owning much less cryptocurrency overall. 10% of Gen X respondents had cryptocurrency, compared to 4% who had NFTs.

In contrast, only 1% of boomers possess NFTs and 5% of them own cryptocurrency.

When it comes to real estate investing, the generational gap is also significant. When millennial and Gen Z investment rates are combined, 21% of respondents own real estate and 20% own cryptocurrency. However, older investors have far higher real estate investment rates; 45% of boomers are among the group, despite the extremely close rate within the age group.

According to the survey, a lack of affordable housing and high housing expenses may discourage younger people from making real estate investments, which could make alternative assets like cryptocurrency more alluring.

April 2024, Cryptoniteuae

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Vaibhavv Ali
Vaibhavv Ali

Vaibhavv Ali is the founder and editor of Cryptonite (cryptonite.ae), an independent digital-asset news and analysis publication with a UAE focus. He covers virtual-asset regulation — VARA, ADGM and the UAE Central Bank — alongside real-world-asset tokenization, stablecoins and agentic AI in finance. Every Cryptonite article is human-edited and its sources are linked. He is also a celebrated speaker and host.

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