{"menuItems":[{"label":"Key US crypto adoption trends from our July 2023 survey","anchorName":"#key-us-crypto-adoption-trends-from-our-july-2023-survey"},{"label":"Cryptocurrency adoption statistics in the US","anchorName":"#cryptocurrency-adoption-statistics-in-the-us"},{"label":"Is cryptocurrency a good investment?","anchorName":"#is-cryptocurrency-a-good-investment"},{"label":"Crypto is a young person's game","anchorName":"#crypto-is-a-young-person-s-game"},{"label":"Popular cryptocurrencies in the US","anchorName":"#popular-cryptocurrencies-in-the-us"},{"label":"Total investment in crypto","anchorName":"#total-investment-in-crypto"},{"label":"Reasons for not investing in cryptocurrency","anchorName":"#reasons-for-not-investing-in-cryptocurrency"},{"label":"Crypto custody","anchorName":"#crypto-custody"},{"label":"Methodology","anchorName":"#methodology"}]}
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.
Men 79%
Women 21%
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.
Methodology
Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index is an ongoing quarterly nationally representative survey, so far polling more than 8,000 American adults, asking questions relating to household finances. First collected October 4-19, 2022, with the second run of the survey running between January 9 to February 17, 2023, April 11-20, 2023 and most recently July 6-18, 2023.
Our data is based on an online survey of 2,056 US adults commissioned by Finder and conducted by Qualtrics/SAP from July 6-18, 2023, with representative quotas for gender, age and states.
We assume the 2,056 participants in our survey represent the US population of 260.9 million Americans who are at least 18 years old, according to the July 2022 US Census Bureau population estimate. This assumption is made at the 95% confidence level with a 2% margin of error.
Our survey asked people a range of crypto-related questions, including whether they thought crypto was a good investment, what crypto-related products they own and how much money they gave invested in cryptocurrencies. A full list of questions can be found on Finder’s Consumer Confidence Index.
We define generations by birth year according to the Pew Research Center’s generational guidelines, though we’ve combined baby boomers and the Silent Generation into a single group for sampling ease:
Gen Z — any adults born post-1997
Millennials — 1981–1996
Gen X — 1965–1980
Baby boomers — anyone born pre-1964
We define geographical regions as defined by the US Census Bureau.
Frank Corva is a cryptocurrency writer and analyst for digital assets at Finder. Frank has turned his hobby of studying and writing about crypto into a career with a mission of educating the world about this burgeoning sector of finance. He worked in Ghana and Venezuela before earning a degree in applied linguistics at Teachers College, Columbia University. He also taught writing and entertainment business courses in Japan and worked with UNICEF in Namibia before returning to the US to teach at universities in New York City. Earlier in his career, he spent years working as a publicist and graphic designer for record labels like Warner Music Group and Triple Crown Records. During that time, he was also a music journalist whose writing and photography was in published in Alternative Press, Spin and other outlets.
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?
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?
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.
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.
How likely would you be to recommend finder to a friend or colleague?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Very UnlikelyExtremely Likely
Required
Thank you for your feedback.
Our goal is to create the best possible product, and your thoughts, ideas and suggestions play a major role in helping us identify opportunities to improve.
Advertiser Disclosure
finder.com is an independent comparison platform and information service that aims to provide you with the tools you need to make better decisions. While we are independent, the offers that appear on this site are from companies from which finder.com receives compensation. We may receive compensation from our partners for placement of their products or services. We may also receive compensation if you click on certain links posted on our site. While compensation arrangements may affect the order, position or placement of product information, it doesn't influence our assessment of those products. Please don't interpret the order in which products appear on our Site as any endorsement or recommendation from us. finder.com compares a wide range of products, providers and services but we don't provide information on all available products, providers or services. Please appreciate that there may be other options available to you than the products, providers or services covered by our service.
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.