Finder’s Cryptocurrency Adoption Index measures cryptocurrency adoption in the United States through a quarterly survey.
Key US crypto adoption trends from our October 2024 survey
US crypto ownership
70.8M American adults own crypto.
Gender split
US men are 1.8x more likely than women to own crypto.
Men 64%
Women 36%
Most-owned crypto
77% of American crypto owners hold ₿itcoin.
Cryptocurrency adoption statistics in the US
Currently, 27% of Americans own cryptocurrency, which is almost double the 15% from the October 2023 survey.
Interestingly, cryptocurrency is now one of the more common ways people find there way to investing more broadly, with 43% saying they bought stocks as their first investment, followed by mutual funds at 12% and cryptocurrencies in third at 9%.
Is cryptocurrency a good investment?
Just over half our respondents (52%) feel cryptocurrency isn’t a good investment, while 48% feel it is.
More men than women feel cryptocurrency is a good investment.
44% of the women investors polled feel cryptocurrency is a good investment, while 52% of the men polled feel it is.
Crypto is a young person’s game
Just 14% of those over 65 and 28% of people aged 55-64 say cryptocurrency is a good investment compared to over to half of both 18-24-year-olds (53%) and 25-34-year-olds (65%).
Popular cryptocurrencies in the US
Bitcoin (BTC) remains the most-held cryptocurrency, 77% of American crypto owners holding it. Ether (ETH) comes in second, with 45% of Americans who own crypto holding it.
First cryptocurrency purchase
BTC is the entry point for the majority of crypto owners.
Total investment in crypto
While crypto may be gaining in popularity, the majority of investors are not throwing all their money towards these assets, with 80% of investors holding crypto assets having less than $10,000 in exposure.
Reasons for not investing in cryptocurrency
“I think crypto is a scam” is one of the most common reason given by our respondents for why they don’t own crypto at 26% but a lack of money to invest is by far the biggest reason for not investing in crypto (47%).
Methodology
The Finder and Tastytrade Investor Sentiment Report is a US nationally representative survey of American adults about their investing habits. Results collected in August, 2024.
Our survey asked people a range of investing-related questions, including whether they have ever invested outside of their 401(k), what they’re investing in and whether they think now is a good time to invest.
Of the 2,016 adults surveyed, 874 said they had invested outside of their 401(k) and make up the sample of investors referenced throughout the article.
We define geographical regions as defined by the US Census Bureau.
East North Central: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin
East South Central: Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi and Tennessee
Mid-Atlantic: New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania
Mountain: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming
New England: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont
Pacific: Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington
South Atlantic: Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virgina, Washington, D.C., and West Virginia
West North Central: Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota
West South Central: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas
Richard Laycock is Finder’s NYC-based lead editor & insights editor, spending the last decade data diving, writing and editing articles about all things personal finance. His musings can be found across the web including on NASDAQ, MoneyMag, Yahoo Finance and Travel Weekly. Richard studied Media at Macquarie University, including a semester abroad at The Missouri School of Journalism (MIZZOU). See full bio
Is there the same analysis for countries such as India, Italy, Germany, and France? Where can I find it?
Finder
FrankJune 8, 2023Finder
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.
DuyMay 30, 2023
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.
Finder
FrankJune 8, 2023Finder
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.
RobertoMay 8, 2023
Where can I see the complete 2023 Crypto Adoption Index for the 26 countries?
Finder
FrankMay 10, 2023Finder
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.
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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.