1 in 5 Americans Has Crypto in Retirement Portfolio

A new survey by GOBankingRates found that one in five Americans (21%) say they have crypto in their retirement plans.

A decade from now, blockchain ecosystems will serve as major engines for the global economy, said Jagdeep Sidhu, the lead developer and president of Syscoin.

“So, generations that grew up within the internet world are naturally intrigued by the forthcoming infrastructure of new internet economies,” Sidhu said.

Indeed, Gen Z and millennials take the lion’s shares in terms of generations most inclined to include crypto in their retirement plans.

The GOBankingRates survey found that 29% of the 25–34 age group and 28% of the 18–24 age group have crypto in their retirement portfolios.

Ric Edelman, a former independent financial advisor and founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP), said he’s not surprised by these findings for several reasons.

First, younger people are more tech savvy and thus are more likely to be early adopters, he said. Older people already have most of their money invested and are less likely to be seeking new investment ideas, he added, and they are more likely to rely on the advice of financial advisors — and few advisors recommend crypto.

“Older people use tech, but younger people are tech,” Edelman said.

“And so, rather than being surprised that more younger people buy crypto than older people, you should be surprised that there are any older people buying tech.”

The survey indeed finds that the older the age group, the less they have invested in crypto. That translates into 23% of the 35- to 44-year-olds and 20% of the 45- to 54-year-old group. The percentages drop significantly for Americans over 55: Just 8% of the 55–64 age group and a meager 7% of the 65-and-over group say they have crypto in their retirement portfolios.

“Look, older investors aren’t necessarily shying away from allocating their investments towards digital assets,” said Jacob Sansbury, co-founder and CEO of Pluto.

“We certainly see strong evidence of rising interest among older generations in getting exposure to Bitcoin, Ethereum and other important digital assets.”