Are you a millennial investor? Chances are, if you’re reading this, you are! According to a study conducted by Deidre Campbell, crypto remains a preferable long-term investment amongst millennials. Millennials investing in Bitcoin sounds like a cliche, but it’s a reality!
“Anyone that has crypto tells me they wish they bought it sooner,” said Campbell, whose study revealed that more than 25% of millennials are already using or holding digital cryptocurrency.
30% of respondents of the survey disclosed an interest in investigating and studying cryptocurrencies with the intent to become investors in the short-term. 55% of millennials already have invested or planning to invest in the emerging asset class. Why might this be the case?
Millennials don’t trust banks.
Why? Mainly due to inefficient systems and outdated models that aren’t really tailored towards younger investors. These are the same young investors saddled with student loans and are suffering from immense financial pressure both personally and socially. Several studies have found that millennials, in short, do not trust banks with their money.
In 2015, when mainstream awareness of crypto was relatively low and alternatives to banking systems were not yet known to millennials, a study conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics found that only 14% of millennials believed that Wall Street will “do the right thing” for customers.
Remarking on that study, Kevin Kelly, Recon Capital Partner’s CEO, said that the newly emerging trend could spell trouble for banks and financial institutions that call Wall Street home.
“This could definitely be a problem for Wall Street. We haven’t seen Wall Street change since the financial crisis. Every day, we’re starting to see headlines still: Wall Street does it again, another Wall Street faux pas,” Kelly said.
Fast forward 3 years to today, and cashless alternatives such as fintech applications and crypto have become more and more popular amongst millennials. In China, AliPay, the fintech platform of Alibaba valued at more than $150 billion USD, has started to account for more than 80% of all domestic online transactions. In the US, you’re seeing the rise of online banking products, as well as alternative payment methods like Square solidifying its status in the ecosystem.
In underbanked regions and areas with no practical banking systems, fintech and crypto are becoming even more popular. In the Philippines, major banks like Union Bank require both residents and citizens to have more than $2,000.00 in their accounts before getting access to banking services – this restricts a large portion of the country from gaining access to those products and services.
As such, remittance companies like Lhuiller and Palawan have become the main financial service providers for day-to-day users. Cryptocurrency has also increased significantly, as digital assets allow users to send and receive payments via their mobile phones without a third party like a bank.
Coins.ph, the largest cryptocurrency trading and remittance platform in the Philippines, secured more than 5 million users in the Philippines alone, with additional millions in Thailand and Malaysia actively using the service to send and receive cryptocurrency.
Customers use Coin.ph’s apps to access financial services such as cross-border remittances, purchasing digital currencies, topping up their beep stored value card, paying bills and buying ‘load’ (mobile promotional networks) – all without requiring a bank account.
Venezuela has seen an astonishing rate of adoption of the cryptocurrency Dash, as its own economy has tumbled and its currency vastly deflated. Examples like this only push forward the idea that mass adoption is not just tenable, it’s practical.
In major cryptocurrency markets like the US, South Korea, and Japan with established and fully compliant cryptocurrency exchanges, payment processors, and applications, the usage of cryptocurrencies by millennials is expected to surge rapidly.
South Korea recently announced that they recognize cryptocurrency exchanges as legitimate financial institutions and is leading the way to convince young talents to enter the blockchain industry.
What do you think? When did you get started with investing in cryptocurrencies? Are you hopeful that more millennials will enter the market? Let us know on our Facebook page!
