- In 2023, the number of Americans owning cryptocurrencies fell precipitously to 18 million.
- Relatively speaking, just 7% of American adults used cryptocurrency in 2023.
In 2023, just 18 million Americans will report owning or using cryptocurrencies, down from the previous year’s Federal Reserve household survey. This is a substantial fall from earlier years, which reflects shifting conditions in the cryptocurrency market.
There has been a lot of talk on here recently about "52 million Americans" owning cryptocurrency, with this stat seemingly originating from Coinbase.
Yesterday, the Fed released their annual survey of US household economics: https://t.co/awRzPR3jHZ
It found that only 7% of… pic.twitter.com/HMgnhLwJl4
— Jake Donoghue (@JDonoghueAuthor) May 22, 2024
Crypto Usage Sharply Declines in the U.S.
A decline from 10% in 2022 and 12% in 2021, 7% of surveyed U.S. adults reported using cryptocurrency between October 2022 and October 2023, according to the Fed’s Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED) released on May 21.
Moreover, just 1% of adults stated they transmit money or utilize cryptocurrency as a payment method, a sharp decline from 50% in 2022. But 7% of adults invested in or owned cryptocurrency.
The findings of the Fed are very different from Coinbase’s long-stated assertion that 52 million Americans own cryptocurrency. Regarding the veracity of such assertions, Coinbase did not reply to a request for comment on how it came to this figure.
Of the 1% who transacted financial business using cryptocurrency, almost 30% said it was because the receiving individual or company preferred it.
Using cryptocurrency was most often justified by a distrust of banks. Remarkably, those making $100,000 or more a year were more likely to have utilized cryptocurrency for any purpose.
Details of Crypto Users
According to the survey, adult Generation Z members between the ages of 18 and 29, closely followed by millennials—those between the ages of 30 and 44—made up the majority of cryptocurrency users.
Three times as many men as women used cryptocurrency. Adults of the Black and Hispanic ethnic groupings used cryptocurrency for financial transactions the most frequently.
Growing Impact of Asia in Crypto
While white individuals were least likely to use cryptocurrency for any purpose, Asian adults made up the largest population investing in it.
This tendency corresponds with previous ETHNews articles that show Asia’s rise to prominence as a significant force ready to take the lead in the cryptocurrency industry. Asia is now leading this digital transformation because to dramatic shifts in the world bitcoin market during the last several years.
Survey approach
October 2023 saw the polling of 11,488 American individuals 18 years of age and older. The Federal Reserve used the 258 million adult current population survey from the U.S. Census Bureau conducted in March 2023 to weight the sample.
This thorough method guarantees that the findings fairly represent the current status of cryptocurrency ownership and usage in the United States.