New Polls Revealed That People Aged 18-34 Prefer Bitcoins Over Stocks

By Rishma Banerjee

As per recently published reports, a new poll conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Blockchain Capital has indicated an increase in awareness, the propensity to purchase, ownership, and other metrics regarding the popularity of Bitcoin. A significant point to note from the results of the poll is that this enthusiasm with regards to Bitcoin is much stronger in younger age groups.

Blockchain Capital’s Spencer Bogart has, on his blog, contrasted the results of the recent poll with an October 2017 survey. It should be borne in mind that October 2017 was a time when the crypto asset market was gripped by hysteria, riding on the back of the bubble in initial coin offerings (ICOs).

The principal changes in the perception of Bitcoin from October 2017 to April 2019 covered include:

The percentage of people who had never heard of Bitcoin witnessed a steep drop in 23% to 11%
The percentage of those aged 18-34 who describe themselves as at least “somewhat familiar” with Bitcoin rose from 42% to 60%.
The percentage of respondents who view Bitcoin positively as a revolution in financial technology rose from 34% to 43%.
The percentage of respondents who strongly or somewhat agree that Bitcoin will be used by a majority of people in the world rose from 28% to 33%.
In spite of the bear market, the percentage of people who said they would possibly buy bitcoin in the next 5 years rose from 19% to 27%.

Knowledge of Bitcoin is more or less equal across all age groups; however, all other parameters of the digital currency’s popularity strongly favours younger demographics.

Examples of this popularity from the younger generations include:

“Three times as many people in the 18-34 age group are at least “somewhat familiar” with bitcoin as those 65 and older. 59% of the 18-34 age group have a positive view on Bitcoin as financial innovation, but only 24% of those 65 and older feel that way. In terms of future adoption, 48% of the 18-34 age group think most people will be using bitcoin in 10 years, while only 16% of those 65 and older believe that will be the case. 42% of those in the 18-34 age group say they are likely to buy bitcoin within the next 5 years, while only 8% of those 65 and older claim they will make such an investment. 20% of millennials claim they own some bitcoin. Only 2% of those 65 and older claim to have any bitcoin.”

An interesting takeaway from this survey is that millennials prefer bitcoin to other assets. 30% of millennials would choose bitcoin over government bonds, 27% prefer bitcoin over stocks, 24% prefer bitcoin over real estate, and 22% prefer bitcoin over gold.