1 in 10 Americans Invested in Crypto This Year, and Here is How They Vary From Stock Market Investors

June 23, 2021

The stock market offers a wider range of products than the crypto market, but when it comes to the people who invest in them, the reverse is true.

According to a report based on a poll of more than 1,000 people published Thursday by researchers at the University of Chicago, 13% of Americans have acquired or sold a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin, ether, or dogecoin in the past year. According to the report conducted between June 24 and June 28, 41 percent of these investors are women, 44 percent are persons of color, 35 percent make less than $60,000 a year, and 45 percent have a college education.

Meanwhile, within the same one-year period, 24% of Americans bought or sold stocks. 38 percent of these investors are women, 35 percent are racial minorities, 27 percent make less than $60,000 per year, and 51 percent have a college diploma.

In addition, crypto investors are younger than stock market investors, with an average age of 38 compared to 47 for stock market investors.

“Cryptocurrencies are opening up investing opportunities for more diverse investors, which is a very good thing,” said Angela Fontes, a vice president in the economics, justice and society department at the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

“It will be important that these investors have access to sound information as they make decisions related to these often more volatile investments,” she added.

Crypto investors are 38 years old on average, compared to 47 for stock market investors

Case in point: Bitcoin BTC/USD, 0.49 percent, the most traded cryptocurrency, has gone from about $36,000 to below $30,000 in the last month, a 20 percent drop. Bitcoin was hovering around $60,000 two months ago. While the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, +0.07% fell from a one-month high of over 35,000 to a one-month low of roughly 34,000, a drop of around 3%.

Investors are becoming increasingly concerned about the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant and rising tensions between China and the United States, therefore cryptocurrency is trading lower. Furthermore, the Chinese government continues to impose restrictions on cryptocurrency trade. It was banned from being offered to customers by banks and other financial third parties in May.

“Recently, cryptocurrency prices have skyrocketed and plummeted, and speculative trading of cryptocurrency has rebounded, seriously infringing on the safety of people’s property and disrupting the normal economic and financial order,” three Chinese financial regulatory branches said in a joint statement obtained by Reuters.

The majority of crypto investors rely on information found on crypto trading platforms like Coinbase, general trading platforms like Fidelity or Robinhood, as well as social media. According to the University of Chicago survey, only 2% of crypto investors seek advice from a broker or financial consultant.

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