Bitcoin is not just a kind of innovative payment--lately it’s become a way to grow your future savings, and Millennials like it best because it speaks to them, digitally.
Among all American generations, Millennials (18-37 years of age) showed the highest confidence in cryptocurrency, compared with older generations who haven’t grown up in the digital age.
This generation is now determined to embrace new technology and fuel crypto trends in order to create opportunities for themselves.
Five-percent of Millennials are more willing to put money they won’t need for 10 years or more into cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey by Bankrate. That compares to only 1.2 percent of Gen-Xers (age 38 to 53) and less than 1 percent of Baby Boomers (ages 54 to 72).
Another report by Finder.com confirms these findings, showing that 17 percent of Millennials had a cryptocurrency ownership rate out of the 2,001 American adults surveyed. Gen-Xers had a 9 percent rate and Baby Boomers were a bit over 2 percent.
But even though they like crypto five times more than older generations, 30 percent of Millennials still prefer cash investments, even if they are vulnerable to the whims of inflation.
"The buying power of your investments is going to get eaten away by inflation by about 2 percent to 3 percent per year," says Greg McBride, Bankrate's chief financial analyst . "If you’re going to put money in cash, even for shorter amounts of time, do yourself a favor and make sure you’re earning the most competitive return that you can so you can preserve the buying power.”
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For other generations, it’s equities all the way. The stock market is the preferred choice for Gen-Xers (33 percent), Baby Boomers (38 percent) and the Silent Generation (44 percent).
Overall, of course, the stock market is still the number one choice for one-third of Americans (32 percent), while cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, are holding sixth position with 2 percent.
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Source: Bankrate’s Financial Security Index
This has been a tough year for Bitcoin, which has experienced a high of $20,000 (late last year) and a low of under $6,000 by June this year. The volatility, fear of the unknown and lack of protection scares most generations away.
And as a religion, there are Atheists, Agnostics and True Believers.
Barry Silbert, the founder and CEO of the Digital Currency Group, is one of the true believers. He thinks bitcoin has a bright future as an investment choice. “I’m 100% confident a decentralized, non-fiat form of money is here to stay,” says Silbert.
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On the contrary, Berkshire Hathaway’s Charlie Munger, has called bitcoin “worthless, artificial gold.” And Warren Buffett certainly agrees, having warned investors to “Stay away from it. It’s a mirage.”
Kevin O'Leary, investor on ABC's "Shark Tank," takes bitcoin as an asset and not a currency, which because of its volatility makes it difficult to use in transactions.
But another Shark Tanker, Mark Cuban, advises us to add bitcoin to our portfolios. Cuban thinks that if you want to get richer than you already are, you should put some money into crypto, but only using money you are not afraid to lose.
“If you’re a true adventurer and you really want to throw the Hail Mary, you might take 10 percent of your savings and put it in bitcoin or Ethereum,” said Cuban. “But if you do that, you’ve got to pretend you’ve already lost your money.”
Cryptocurrency allows you to be in control of your money without going to the bank to access your funds. And that’s what Millennials love most, regardless of the risk.
By Damir Kaletovic for Safehaven.com
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