Finder Cryptocurrency Adoption Index
Statistics on cryptocurrency adoption in the United States.
Finder’s Cryptocurrency Adoption Index measures cryptocurrency adoption in the United States through a quarterly survey.
Key US crypto adoption trends from our July 2023 survey
US crypto ownership
58.8M American adults own crypto.
Gender split
US men are 3.7x more likely than women to own crypto.
Most-owned crypto
77% of American crypto owners hold ₿itcoin.
Cryptocurrency adoption statistics in the US
Currently, 23% of Americans own cryptocurrency, which is up from 18%, as reported in our April 2023 survey.
However, our data shows that the majority of Americans have yet to invest in cryptocurrency and don’t plan to do so.
Is cryptocurrency a good investment?
More than two-thirds of our respondents (66%) feel cryptocurrency isn’t a good investment, while 34% feel it is.
More men than women feel cryptocurrency is a good investment.
Only 20% of the women polled feel cryptocurrency is a good investment, while 48% of the men polled feel it is.
Crypto is a young person’s game
Just 4% of baby boomers and 22% of Gen X say cryptocurrency is a good investment compared to over half of both Gen Y (55%) and Gen Z (54%).
Popular cryptocurrencies in the US
Bitcoin (BTC) remains the most-held cryptocurrency, with 77% of American crypto owners holding BTC. Ethereum (ETH) comes in second, with 37% of Americans who own crypto holding it.
First cryptocurrency purchase
BTC is the entry point for the majority of crypto owners. However, the number of respondents who say that BTC was their first crypto purchase ebbed over the last year.
In our October 2022 survey, 58% said BTC was their first crypto, followed by 52% in January 2023 and 46% in April, before rebounding to 55% in the latest iteration (July 2023).
Total investment in crypto
With each report, the average amount of US dollars our respondents say they have invested in cryptocurrency consistently doubles.
Investment style
The largest portion of our respondents (43%) are investing more conservatively than six months ago, while 39% are investing in a similar fashion. Only 17% are investing more adventurously than they were.
Reasons for not investing in cryptocurrency
“Crypto is a scam” is the most common reason cited by our respondents for why they don’t own crypto (28%). However, the percentage of respondents who think crypto is a scam is on the decline.
The effect of the FTX collapse
Our respondents were split as to whether the FTX collapse affected their decision to remain invested in cryptocurrency.
34% say that the FTX collapse prompted them to leave the market, while 38% have chosen to remain invested in crypto despite the FTX debacle.
Crypto custody
The majority of our respondents (83%) hold their crypto in a non-custodial wallet. Only 7% of our respondents leave their crypto in the custody of an exchange with no intentions of holding it in self-custody.
More guides on Finder
-
5 types of cryptocurrency explained
Learn more about the various types of crypto assets and their functions.
-
List of the biggest crypto hacks
Learn about some major crypto hacks and what you can do to protect yourself.
-
Coinbase Ventures Portfolio assets and market cap
Discover more about the 31 assets in Coinbase Ventures Portfolio and its $484bn market cap.
-
What is a crypto rug pull?
Learn about some of the biggest crypto rug pulls and how to avoid getting “rugged”
-
USD Coin (USDC) vs. Tether (USDT)
We size up the 2 largest stablecoins on the crypto market – Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC) – to see how they compare.
-
Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchain scaling solutions
Layer 1 and Layer 2 blockchains must scale to onboard more users; learn more about these two technologies.
-
What is staking and how does it work?
Staking is one of the most popular ways to earn an income with cryptocurrency – learn how to get started with this guide.
-
Why haven’t we all bought cryptocurrency yet?
According to our recent survey, a whopping 92.05% of us haven’t invested in cryptocurrency yet. But with crypto in the headlines and on the lips of “experts” — why not?
-
Crypto crash: Top 10 coins nose-dive an average 24.64% in a day
Sudden price fluctuations in the cryptocurrency world have taken its investors on quite the roller coaster ride. How much did the leading 10 coins dive?
Ask an Expert
Is there the same analysis for countries such as India, Italy, Germany, and France? Where can I find it?
Thank you for the question! Unfortunately, we have only conducted analysis for US residents. We don’t currently have analysis for other countries in this particular report.
Hi Frank,
Thanks for your helpful information and your hard working. It’s been good research so far but I can’t find this report anymore: “Key Hongkonger crypto adoption trends in our January 2022 report”
Could you please send me again the link of it? Much appreciated.
Thank you for getting in touch. Unfortunately, we had to take the Hong Kong page down. For now, we only have the US crypto adoption index page up.
Where can I see the complete 2023 Crypto Adoption Index for the 26 countries?
Hi, Roberto — Thanks for leaving a comment. I’m not exactly sure what you are referencing, but we are about to update our “Global Crypto Regulations” piece (https://www.finder.com/global-cryptocurrency-regulations), which may have some of the information you’re looking for.