People did not shun Bitcoin and other digital assets during the first wave down of the crypto winter. According to a study by S&P Global Market Intelligence in March, one in five consumers bought or sold Bitcoin as markets crashed early this year.
Bitcoin and other crypto coins began another descent in April, and the study does not cover that period.
But a recent survey in October shows that younger investors look at crypto as a solid retirement option. Around 45% of younger investors invest in cryptocurrencies.
Overall market crashes brought crypto values down in 2020 and again this year. But it was the 2008 crash that made people think of using cryptos as an alternative in the first place. That means market crashes can lead to unexpected outcomes for crypto.
Bitcoin launched one year after the financial crisis, in 2009, while ethereum followed in 2015. Altcoins surged after ethereum's launch with over 15,000 coins available today.
Bitcoin And Crypto Use Grew In Crypto Winter
In March this year, S&P Global Market Intelligence surveyed millennials, sports betting people and college students — a total of 2,519 adults. The finding shows that all three demographic groups used cryptos and NFTs (non-fungible tokens).
The findings, called the Kagan U.S. Consumer Insights, showed that a whopping 72% of people with a gaming console owned Bitcoin or other digital coins. A higher 84% held non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.
Digital asset traders were also big on betting. While only 20% of regular sports fans in the group bet on a live game, over three times that number, or 62%, of crypto traders had bet on games.
Among millennials, exactly half of those between the ages of 25 and 41 held crypto, while nearly 60% held NFTs.
Among university students, 45% held Bitcoin and cryptos and 55% held NFTs.
Sports betters who were also crypto traders were likely riding the wave of using money as a hobby through NFT purchases, according to the finding. NFT buyers were the largest betters at 81%.
But sports NFTs also build fandom and provide new ways of funding. Platforms like FANtium allow people to buy NFTs to fund athletes through game seasons without a middle person or agency. In October, the platform raised 2 million euros that allowed fans to invest in athletes.
Crypto For Wealth Generation
Apart from sports betting that favors Bitcoin and crypto, the Kagan study group included millennials and college students for whom wealth creation is an increasing concern as inflation dents purchasing power.
Millennials trail earlier generations in wealth creation, according to a St. Louis Fed study. Flush with cash from recent loose monetary policy and faced with a wealth gap, millennials are turning to crypto, the Fed study found. They are rapidly making up for the 40% deficit in generational wealth in the process.
For college students, crypto may become a way of life. UPenn's Wharton Business School accepts tuition payments in Bitcoin and other crypto for some of its programs. Private colleges like Bentley are accepting Bitcoin, ethereum, and stable coin USD coin, which is pegged to the U.S. dollar, for tuition payments. The University of California at Berkeley accepts Bitcoin donations.
Mobile wallets like Venmo, Apple Pay, and PayPal — which are very popular among teens and younger adults — already allow crypto transactions.
