One in five American adults has used or invested in a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, and slightly less in Europe. Nearly half invested for the first time last year. Cryptocurrency is especially popular among millennials and a significant portion of them invest for the long term or as part of retirement plans. This is shown by three different studies.

NBC News: one in five

NBC News recently conducted a survey on the adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies among the US population. It found that 21% of the 1,000 Americans surveyed have used or invested in a cryptocurrency at least once.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are proving particularly popular among young adults aged 18 to 34, with 42% saying they have used or traded with them. Young men between the ages of 18 and 49 scored the highest. About half of them have done ‘something’ with bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. The black population is also at the forefront, according to the survey: 40% of them have used or traded with it.

Despite the high adoption rate, opinions about bitcoin and cryptocurrency are still divided. About 19% of those surveyed see bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in a positive light, while 25% have a negative opinion. The remaining 56% do not have a strong opinion or do not know yet.

Global State of Crypto: Exploding Adoption

Recently, the bitcoin exchange Gemini also conducted research among nearly 30,000 people across 20 countries. They published the results in the report Global State of Crypto 2022. That study estimates the percentage of bitcoin and crypto owners in the US to be comparable at 20%. The percentage is 17% in Europe and 23% worldwide. The majority of them are men and about one third are women.

Less developed countries and countries with high inflation rate much higher. In Indonesia and Brazil, 41% of respondents said they own a cryptocurrency, and in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, the percentages are 30% and 35%.

About half of all respondents are “crypto curious” and are considering purchasing something in the next 12 months. What is special is that curiosity among women (47%) has increased and is now almost as great as among men (53%).

Last year, adoption exploded. A whopping 41% of all bitcoin and crypto owners indicated that they will have made their first investment in 2021. This was the case for 44% of respondents in the US and 40% in Europe.

This study also points to an increase in adoption among the black population: from 9% to 17%. Nearly double, but still lower than NBC News results.

Nearly half (46%) of respondents in South America and Africa see an investment in Bitcoin as a way to protect against inflation. More than half of the respondents from these continents consider bitcoin and cryptocurrencies to be ‘the future of money’. For respondents in the US (16%) and Europe (15%), inflation is much less of a factor, with only 19% and 21% seeing bitcoin as the future of money.

Of all respondents worldwide, 79% said they made their investment for the longer term.

Investopedia: millennial retirement plans

Results from an Investopedia survey are in line with the other studies. This also shows that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are most popular among young adults.

For example, 38% of the millennial generation reported having invested in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, making it the most popular type of investment among this generation. Of Generation X, 28% invested in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency and of Gen Z young adults the percentage is 23%. Only 6% of the baby boomer generation own a cryptocurrency.

Millennials also rate their knowledge about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies the highest: 41% of them say they have above-average knowledge and 39% are able to explain it to someone else. Of Generation X and Gen Z, 29% and 30% think they have above-average bitcoin knowledge. Among baby boomers, 8% said they understood.

Remarkably, 28% of Millennials and 20% of Generation X consider their investment in Bitcoin or cryptocurrency as part of their retirement plans. This applies to 17% of Gen Z young adults and 5% of baby boomers.

Rabobank and Nibud researched the Dutch market a few months ago and found that 27% of the young adults surveyed own a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin. Other research found that most millennial millionaires own a cryptocurrency.