One of the positive results of the boom and bust of bitcoin has been to attract millennials to invest in traditional assets, according to a new study by eToro multi-asset and social-commerce brokerage firm.
According to eToro, around 73% of the new investors that signed the firm in 2017 and 2018 bought cryptocurrencies. Approximately 11% of these investors have since gone on to put their money into traditional assets in addition to cryptography. This includes products, stocks and forex.
Diversification was especially prevalent among millennials (ages 25-34) since 44% of respondents in this demography expanded their portfolios.
Bitcoin flattened the investment landscape?
The Managing Director of eToro in the United Kingdom, Iqbal Gandham, observed that the cryptocurrencies had demystified the investment and improved the accessibility to the investment products:
For too long, the investment has been considered a preserve of the rich and / or something that is too complicated for the average man on the street. Crypto changed that.
This is not the first time cryptocurrencies are credited for stimulating interest in other assets. Earlier this year, the CEO and founder of fintech startup Freetrade, Adam Dodds, made the same observation. According to The Telegraph, Dodds stated that the bitcoin boom of late 2017 had hooked millennials to commercial actions.
“Bitcoin is the gateway for cannabis to other investments”
Specifically, Dodds compared bitcoin with “pot”:
It was a kind of entry drug … but, instead of heroin, it was a drug for something better.
Dodds also added that the opportunities to which young people were exposed by the rise of cryptographers opened their eyes:
The young people realized that they could invest their money in an intelligent way, after the fashion of cryptography
Despite the fact that a significant number of millennials have shown interest in diversifying investments, a recent survey showed that they are more suspicious of traditional investments and markets compared to their older demographics. A survey conducted by eToro EE. UU It showed recently that 43% of millennials trust cryptocurrency exchanges more than the stock exchanges of the United States.
Why does such a high number of Millennials trust Bitcoin exchanges more than stock exchanges?
According to the survey, millennials rely on cryptographic exchanges more than on stock exchanges due to the immutable nature of blockchain. Thus, millennials see bitcoin exchanges as less susceptible to manipulation. In addition, they consider that bad actors are less likely to be rewarded with taxpayer dollars.
43% of Millennials ‘Clueless’ Trust Crypto Exchanges in the stock market: survey #criptomoneda #altcoin https://t.co/Y6BkSBIjHz – Crypto News (@PaveIt_) February 20, 2019
In contrast, 77% of Generation X (those born between 1965 and 1979) indicated that they relied on stock exchanges rather than bitcoin exchanges.
Part of the distrust that millennials have formed in the stock market comes from their experiences. Specifically, millennials were beginning their adult lives during the 2008 global financial crisis and the subsequent market crash. These events made them cautious and somewhat risk averse, according to Nationwide Advisory Solutions. As a result, Millennials were more likely to have double the cash in their investment portfolios relative to Generation X.