Survey Reveals Younger Investors' Strong Crypto Ownership and Changing Wealth-Building Perspectives
The State of Crypto Q4 2025 survey conducted by Coinbase, which included 4,350 US adults and 2,005 active investors, highlights notable differences in investment behavior and financial outlooks between younger and older generations.
According to the survey finalized in December 2025, 45% of younger investors own cryptocurrency compared to just 18% of older generations. This younger cohort allocates about 25% of their portfolios to non-traditional assets, significantly higher than the 8% allocation by older investors.
A substantial 73% of younger respondents believe that their generation faces more challenges in building wealth through conventional means compared to previous cohorts, whereas only 57% of older adults share this sentiment. Additionally, nearly 80% of younger adults expect cryptocurrency to have a much larger role in future financial systems, in contrast to about 60% among older investors.
Younger investors are also more inclined to seek early access to new crypto assets, with 47% expressing this interest compared to 16% of older investors. Furthermore, approximately 80% of younger investors are willing to try new investment opportunities before others, while fewer than 50% of older adults feel the same.
FINRA data highlighted by the survey shows a decline in crypto consideration from 33% in 2021 to 26% in 2024, with perceptions of crypto's riskiness increasing from 58% to 66%. This pullback is mainly observed among older demographics.
Reflecting these trends, Coinbase is developing the Everything Exchange, a platform designed to enable cross-asset trading with a focus on security and compliance, signaling a shift toward internet-native investment platforms.
