Almost half of the millennial millionaires have at least one-fourth of their wealth in cryptocurrencies, a new survey shows. It comes at a time when virtual currencies have seen a boom like never before, creating wealth for the young as well as those who trusted the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and others and adopted them early on. The study revealed that nearly 47 per cent of the 750 millennial millionaires surveyed had over 25 per cent of their wealth in crypto. Not just that, nearly 33 per cent of those surveyed with at least $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.31 crore) in investible assets had half of their wealth in digital currencies, reveals the survey.
What the study also shows is the generational divide in wealth creation among the younger and older millionaires. For instance, the survey showed that fully 83 per cent of American millionaires have zero wealth in virtual currencies and only about 10 per cent of them had more than 10 per cent investment in crypto assets.
George Walper, president of Spectrem Group, which conducted the online millionaire survey with CNBC in April and May, said that the younger generation jumped on to cryptocurrencies early on when little was known about them. “The younger investors were more intellectually engaged with the idea even though it was new. Older investors and the boomers were largely saying ‘Is this legit?’” CNBC quoted him as saying.
And much on the lines of cryptocurrency, the NFT (non-fungible token) mania has also taken the world, particularly the younger generation by storm. The same survey makes it clear that the generational divide is starker, especially when it comes to NFTs. While most of the American millionaires had no idea what an NFT is, almost two-thirds of millennial millionaires say they are going to be the “next big thing.” Over one-third of the total say the NFTs are “overhyped fad.”
Almost half of the 750 millennial millionaires said that they owned NFTs, while 40 per cent said they don’t have them now but have considered it. A whopping 98 per cent of another category of millionaires, the baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), didn’t own NFTs and weren’t considering it either. The reason, Walper said, was that NFTs have only recently started to be a part of the media coverage. “So, the older generations are further behind on the understanding.”
Speaking of Bitcoin, the oldest and the most popular cryptocurrency being traded in the world, the Bitcoin price in India and the world saw a meteoric rise in its value over the past six months despite experts, critics, and sceptics issuing regular warnings and expressing their doubts about its sustenance.
In April, the virtual currency had touched an all-time high of nearly $65,000 (roughly Rs. 47.3 lakh), a massive spike of over 450 per cent in just six months. Since then, Bitcoin prices have taken a tumble, losing more than half of its value. Massive fluctuations have been a hallmark of cryptocurrency trading in 2021. Read more about the journey of Bitcoin’s highs and lows this year here.