If You Want to Learn About Crypto, Ask a Millennial

If You Want to Learn About Crypto, Ask a Millennial

An Underutilized, Optimistic Generation at the Forefront of Digital Assets

My husband shared with me a really funny tweet last week: “The only people who seem to know how old millennials are, are millennials. Boomers think we’re still in college, and Gen Z thinks we belong in a nursing home.” 

Source: Twitter

I completely feel the pain. I’m a Millennial myself. It’s a weird place to exist. There’s still a misconception that as a Millennial that you’re not a full adult–the average age of a Millennial today is 26-41 and Millennials surpassed baby boomers as the largest adult demographic (Freddie Mac). We’re not just living our best lives and eating avocado toast, but have the weight of real adult problems on our shoulders: savings, investing, credit scores, debt, retirement, and leaving something behind for the next generation. 

As a result of the neglect of traditional finance–TradFi, Millennials have taken matters into their hands with crypto and other digital assets, hoping that gains in cryptocurrency will help make up for shortfalls in savings (T-Rowe Price 2022 ​​Parents, Kids & Money Survey).

 

According to a 2022 research report from Investopedia, 38% percent of Millennials have some kind of cryptocurrency investment in their name, making cryptocurrency the most common investment this generation holds and it's just as popular as their investments in stocks. Not only are Millennials bullish on digital assets, but they believe that they understand cryptocurrency investing the most out of any other generation: 41% report advanced knowledge on the subject of digital assets. GenX follows at 37%, Gen Z at 31%, and Baby Boomers at 26%. 

Thirty-nine percent of Millennials suggest they could explain cryptocurrency to someone else, and as parents, they are actively having conversations with their children about finances because of this emerging asset, and additional time spent at home with their children during the pandemic. According to the T-Rowe Price 2022 ​​Parents, Kids & Money Survey, 4 in 10 parents (42%) who are familiar with crypto agree: “My kids and I have regular conversations about finances because of cryptocurrency.” You even have 33% of Millennial parents who say their kids (8-14 years old) actively trade crypto more than they do, but that’s a story for another day. 

The Millennial adult is one of the most overlooked customer demographics in the financial services industry. Despite the impact of economic events, 64% of Millennials said they are still investing, favoring cryptocurrency (38%) and stocks (37%) the most. 61% of Millennials say they’re quite confident about their financial knowledge overall (Investopedia). 

When you combine their knowledge and deep investment in the digital asset space with their Gen Alpha children who have only grown up understanding digital assets through games such as Roblox and Fortnite, you have a massive opportunity to serve the complex asset management needs of this generation. 

That’s exactly why we focus on serving Millennials through Wallio. They’re the forward-thinking generation that is willing to take the risk, lead the way, and teach everyone they know about the opportunities ahead in the digital asset space.