If you assumed crypto was just a young person’s game, think again. More people in the United States than ever before are turning to cryptocurrencies to help fund their retirement, it seems, even as the recent market carnage provides a stark reminder that this wild market is not for the faint-hearted.
Some 27 percent of Americans aged 18-60—around 50 million people—have owned or traded crypto in the past six months, a poll published last week by crypto exchange KuCoin found.
Yet older folk are more devoted to the young asset class than the general population, according to the survey carried out at the end of March, with 28 percent of those aged 50 and above betting on crypto as part of their early retirement plans.
Their most popular for investing in crypto were that they saw it as the future of finance, they didn’t want to miss a hot trend, and they saw it as a way to diversify their portfolios.
The market turmoil of recent weeks has hushed talk earlier in 2022 that Bitcoin and other cryptos would win mainstream acceptance and be ushered into pension plans.
“If they (investors) want crypto, it should be a very small allocation of their portfolio, and they should be prepared to lose it,” said Erik Knutzen, chief investment officer for multi-asset class strategies at Neuberger Berman.
“We would not recommend it to everybody.”
Indeed Bitcoin is trading at around $30,000 (roughly Rs. 23,29,900), down 60 percent from a peak of $69,000 (roughly Rs. 53,58,900) in November. And the market meltdown means many newcomers’ investments are deeply in the red.
Nonetheless, crypto investors and analysts are watching like hawks for any indication that Bitcoin could bounce back.
The KuCoin poll comes a week after a survey of 11,000 adults by the Fed found that 12 percent of Americans dabbled in cryptocurrencies as an investment last year.
It did not break down participants by age but found almost half of those holding crypto for investment had an annual income of $100,000 (roughly Rs. 77,66,700) or more, while almost a third had an income under $50,000 (roughly Rs. 38,833,80).
