Original title: State of Crypto Q4 2025: Younger investors are rewriting the investing playbook.
Original source: Coinbase.
Original translation by: Chopper, Foresight News.
For decades, the path to wealth accumulation for Americans has remained almost unchanged: find a good job, buy property, invest in stocks, and then wait for time to bring compound returns. Our latest released (cryptocurrency industry report) shows that the younger generation of investors no longer believes in this traditional path and is adjusting their investment behavior.
To understand the market response strategies of different generational groups, as well as the role of cryptocurrency in their investment portfolios, Coinbase collaborated with Ipsos to conduct a special survey, interviewing 4,350 American adults, including 2,005 investors with investment accounts. The core conclusions of the survey are as follows: Generation Z and millennials, as young investors, are more inclined to actively manage investments than any previous generation, more willing to embrace non-traditional assets, and are more likely to view cryptocurrency as a core component of their personal financial future.
A generation shut out of the traditional wealth ladder.
Young investors are much more optimistic about the economy than the older generation, but they feel that the existing financial system is not designed for them. Survey data shows that nearly 70% (73%) of young people believe that it is harder for their generation to accumulate wealth through traditional means compared to their parents' generation; the corresponding percentage among older people holding the same view is only 57%.
They have witnessed the continuous rise in housing costs, accumulating student debt, and sluggish wage growth. Against this backdrop, more and more young people are seeking alternative wealth accumulation methods that go beyond the traditional model of 'home equity + stock portfolio.'
The allocation of non-traditional assets is three times that of the older generation.
This anxiety is directly reflected in their asset allocation strategies. The survey shows that young investors allocate 25% of their investment portfolios to non-traditional asset classes such as cryptocurrencies, financial derivatives, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other emerging products. This proportion is three times that of older investors, whose allocation to non-traditional assets is only 8%.
The stock ownership ratios among different generational groups are roughly similar, with the core difference being that young investors have added more diverse allocations beyond stocks. They actively seek yield opportunities beyond traditional stock dividends, and in order to narrow the wealth gap, they are more willing to try various new investment tools and emerging markets.
Cryptocurrency is not just a side investment; it is a core allocation.
This shift in intergenerational investment philosophy is most vividly reflected in the acceptance of cryptocurrency. The report shows that 45% of young investors currently hold cryptocurrency, while this proportion among older investors is only 18%. Additionally, nearly half (47%) of young investors hope to get ahead of the ordinary market and be the first to engage with new types of crypto assets; in contrast, only 16% of older investors have this desire.
In the eyes of the younger generation, cryptocurrency is not merely a speculative trade but an important means to help them catch up in wealth. Eighty percent of young people believe that cryptocurrency provides their generation with more financial opportunities outside of the traditional financial system; at the same time, another eighty percent of young people firmly believe that the status of cryptocurrency in the future financial system will significantly increase. In contrast, only about sixty percent of older investors share this view.
The younger generation's enthusiasm for exploring emerging markets goes beyond spot cryptocurrencies; they are also eager to engage with more non-traditional assets. Data shows that 80% of young investors are willing to try new investment opportunities ahead of others, while the proportion of older people holding this attitude is less than half. Young investors are consistently interested in emerging non-traditional products such as cryptocurrency derivatives, prediction markets, 24/7 stock trading, early token sales, altcoins, and decentralized finance lending.
This trend impacts the future market.
The young investor group has shown distinctly different characteristics: they trade more frequently, are willing to take greater risks for higher returns, and allocate a significant portion of their investment portfolios towards non-traditional assets centered around cryptocurrency. At the same time, they are driving the entire financial industry to transform towards a direction that better meets the needs of the internet-native generation, creating platforms that operate around the clock and support multi-asset trading.
