more than 1 in5 Americans have used cryptocurrency
That is just one of the many key takeaways from a recent report which reveals who is holding crypto
how they were inspired to enter the space and how they use crypto on a daily basis Today we’ll be
breaking this report down for you offering our own thoughts and insights and telling you what
this could mean for the crypto market My name is Guy and you are watching the Coin Bureau So
the report we’ll be summarizing for you today is titled quote 2025 state of crypto holders report
which describes itself as quote the definitive annual report on cryptocurrency holders in the
United States of America It was published by the National Cryptocurrency Association or NCA and
we’ll leave the full report for you down in the description if you’re interested Now the report
begins by discussing how crypto has been adopted by those fascinated with innovation but has also
reinforced the stereotype of the crypto bro bro gh those guys are the worst Anyhow this begs the
question of who exactly is buying and using crypto and more importantly why well to find out 10,000
people were surveyed about their use of crypto The results revealed that 21% of respondents held
crypto So if we extrapolate this to the general population of adults in the United States
that’s 55 million people 39% of the surveys respondents said they use crypto to pay for goods
and services And not only did respondents express their optimism about crypto but many even said
that it had improved their lives and could even bring positive change to the whole financial
system music to our ears In fact more than 3/4 of respondents said that crypto had a positive
impact on their lives Now this is fantastic news income levels represented Notably crypto is still
a maledominated industry 67% of crypto users are male while just 31% of crypto users are female
And this is actually much better than what it used to be Other reports we’ve covered in the past
have suggested even higher male dominance Anyhow as you’d probably expect 67% of crypto holders
were also under the age of 45 which makes sense given that crypto is well basically a tech product
Meanwhile just 15% of holders are aged 55 or above which is an incredibly low percentile for such a
broad age bracket Notably 57% of respondents have an annual income below $75,000 which suggests
fairly broad participation across income groups given that the median salary in the US is around
$41,000 as of 2024 The report then analyzes the different sectors that American crypto holders
work in And what stood out to us is that just 7% of them work in finance This is surprising
since these folks will arguably have the most exposure to legacy finance systems and all their
flaws Maybe this number could increase as crypto’s institutional adoption increases Meanwhile as for
the value of their crypto holdings 40% say their portfolio is worth less than $5,000 34% said their
portfolio is worth between $5,000 and $50,000 And 12% said their portfolio is worth between $50,000
and $100,000 11% said their portfolio is worth over $100,000 while 3% said they’re not sure To
be fair these days I don’t dare check my portfolio either Oh and by the way did you know that 36%
of you aren’t subscribed to this channel so hit those like and subscribe buttons and ping that
notification bell to make sure you’re getting your daily dose of crypto alpha Okay the next part of
the report takes a look at how people are actually using cryptocurrencies The report notes that
quote 39% of all crypto holders reported using it to shop for goods and services And of these 96%
did so at least once a year In fact 27% said that a major reason why they buy crypto in the first
place is for online transactions And another 39% said they use crypto to pay for shopping On top
of this 31% of crypto holders say they use crypto as a means to send funds to friends and family
members But of course the biggest reason why people invest in crypto is to chase those sweet
gains Oh and we couldn’t help but notice that an impressive 32% of crypto holders say they have
bought sold or used an NFT Nice to see they’re not completely dead Come to think of it an NFT
revival would be more than welcome right about now Regardless holders were also asked how many
times a year they use crypto to pay for goods or services I repeat that a jaw-dropping 96% said
they do this at least once per year Amazing stuff 9% of respondents said they do this on a daily
basis while 4% said they never do Well swings and roundabouts I suppose The report then looks at
crypto’s benefits not just for individual holders but for society as a whole It notes that holders
are incredibly optimistic about crypto with 76% saying that it has had a positive impact on
their financial well-being Another 46% said that crypto’s impact has been very positive All
right showoffs To be fair though 3% also said that crypto has had a negative impact on their life Now
considering that this survey was conducted between the 22nd of January and the 3rd of February
this year we dread to think how this would have changed if the same respondents were asked
again today Just goes to show how fast things can change in crypto So make sure you’re subscribed
to stay up to speed Now notably the prospect of financial freedom that is the ability to take
full control of one’s financial future is the leading reason for a positive crypto experience at
49% Meanwhile 45% said that crypto presented them with an opportunity for learning and personal
growth The report also notes the technological and societal benefits of crypto On the practical
side of things 45% pointed to enhanced digital transactions On the social side 45% highlighted
a reduction in poverty Respondents also welcomed integrations with major financial firms like
PayPal or Visa Next the report asked about the ways in which crypto has had a positive influence
on the lives of holders 49% said that crypto has helped increase their financial independence while
45% said they’re excited by crypto’s innovation and enjoy the opportunities for learning and
personal growth Meanwhile 44% said they feel a sense of achievement from their crypto gains
while 42% are simply happy that crypto allows them to diversify their investments The report
then looks at how crypto is boosting the global financial system Impressively 76% of respondents
said they trust crypto just as much if not more than the traditional banking sector Furthermore
45% see crypto as a way to reduce fees and 44% acknowledge its enhanced transaction efficiency An
overwhelming number of respondents also expressed their desire for the US to play a bigger role
in crypto with 73% hoping to see the US as the global leader 64% highlighted the importance for
regulation of crypto although 67% said they were concerned that these regulations could also stifle
innovation Respondents were then asked how crypto can better support trad 45% pointed to reduce
transaction costs and fees while 44% pointed to enhanced transparency security and transaction
efficiency Meanwhile 39% pointed to crypto as providing a suitable alternative during times
of economic uncertainty while offering a diverse range of financial products and services 34% also
pointed to broader financial inclusion while 33% pointed to fostering global financial connectivity
and collaboration Now the next part of the report looks at user adoption starting with how people
were drawn to the space to begin with 60% said that their main motivation for exploring crypto
for the first time was to invest Meanwhile 50% were attracted to crypto out of sheer curiosity
When it comes to what inspired users first ever purchase of crypto the report explains that the
biggest motivator for 43% of them was friends and family while 38% made their first investment
out of an interest in the technology Meanwhile 27% said they first acquired crypto to make an
online transaction Other motivations include news and events market trends economic shifts and
endorsements from influencers and celebrities Thankfully though the latter has played a
marginal role in investments influencing just 20% of crypto holders What’s crazy is that
only 56% of respondents said they bought crypto between 2020 and 2025 which implies that the other
44% of respondents got into crypto in either 2019 or earlier And more to the point they’re still
here Anyway next the report looks at the top barriers to entry Unsurprisingly the biggest
obstacle comes down to security concerns 75% of respondents flagged the possibility of crypto
scams and other threats as an obstacle while 13% said that security is the number one barrier to
entry However just 3% of respondents said they had personally had a bad experience in this regard
When asked what their top concerns were 48% raised volatility and financial losses while 35% said
that their main concern was actually understanding crypto tech and the market to begin with Another
32% said that crypto stress and anxiety was their top concern which feels like a good time to remind
everyone to touch grass every now and then Another 32% said that negative experiences with security
or fraud was their top concern and 29% raised regulatory and legal challenges as a top concern
However what’s encouraging is that 35% said that taking full ownership over the security of their
assets was a positive thing And remember you can people from acquiring crypto 15% said a lack of
money which seems kind of obvious Another 15% said that crypto’s volatility can be off-putting
while 13% pointed to security concerns The report then looks at crypto knowledge among holders It
begins by stating that many crypto holders have a thirst for knowledge about the industry which
I’m sure many of you watching can attest to In fact a whopping 81% said they are interested
in learning more about crypto and 40% said they consume crypto education on a daily basis
Here’s looking at you But what types of crypto education are people actively looking for well 47%
said they look for information about investment strategies while 39% look to understand the tax
and regulatory implications of investing in crypto 38% said they want to get into the nitty-gritty
of how blockchain technology works And another 38% said they wanted to learn more about how
to protect their investments Notably the report said that YouTube is the most popular platform for
crypto education being used by 60% of enthusiasts Traditional media outlets like the New York Times
and the Wall Street Journal are also popular visited by 40% of respondents The report also
points out that sites like Discord and Reddit are less popular with just 22% of respondents using
Discord and 33% using Reddit To be fair though the quality of information you’re going to get
from these sites really depends on which groups you’re in Now the report then looks at how much
investors know about the crypto market and the responses may surprise you 99% said they had heard
of Bitcoin which really makes you wonder about the remaining 1% Meanwhile 91% said they have heard
of Ethereum which is apparently the same number of investors that have heard of Dogecoin What’s
crazy is that 87% said they’d heard of the USDC stable coin but just 74% have heard of Salana and
only 67% have heard of XRP This is pretty crazy to us I mean literally all of them are top 10 coins
by market cap But it then gets even crazier 85% said they have acquired BTC Well fair enough I
guess it’s not for everyone However just 58% said they’ve purchased ETH which is insane when you
consider that Ethereum has the largest ecosystem in crypto and has for so long been the logical
second choice after BTC for many investors Just 48% said they’ve acquired Doge which again makes
sense Not everyone likes memecoins no matter how successful they are And while 44% of respondents
reported acquiring USDC just 28% said they’ve bought Soul and 23% reported ever owning XRP which
is strange given how popular XRP is Now don’t get me wrong we know that not every crypto user will
be as enthusiastic about the altcoin market as say you or me are But even so the number of
respondents claiming to have never acquired these coins is honestly pretty bewildering And
with that bombshell just casually thrown in at the end that brings us to the end of this report
And remember you can find the full report in the description below For now though there’s just one
more thing we need to ask ourselves What does all of this mean for the crypto market well we should
probably start by addressing the elephant in the room As we mentioned earlier the survey in this
report was conducted between the 22nd of January and the 3rd of February when market sentiment
was much more positive In fact since the 3rd of February BTC has fallen by 25% at the time of
shooting and crypto’s total market cap has fallen by roughly $1 trillion To be blunt we’d bet that
if the NCA ran the exact same survey today the results wouldn’t be nearly as positive In fact
as we record this the fear and greed index is currently entering extreme fear territory And not
only that but Bitcoin dominance continues to climb What this means is that investors are unlikely to
explore the altcoin market anytime soon However this really depends on how sustainable this level
of Bitcoin dominance really is Taking a look at the altcoin season indicator reveals that we’re
clearly still in the Bitcoin season but you’ll also notice that we’re also at levels where this
trend has historically reversed with more money flowing into altcoins In our opinion the altcoins
that will see the most investment will likely be those in the top 10 by market cap Although this
also means that the potential gains will be significantly lower than if you were to go further
down the risk curve What was also encouraging paradoxically is that crypto regulation was
flagged as a major concern and a leading barrier to entry This is encouraging for the simple fact
that crypto regulators in the US have become much friendlier to the industry thanks to the pro-
crypto stance taken by the Trump administration So far there doesn’t seem to have been any
stifling of crypto innovation since Trump took office In fact it’s being actively encouraged And
you can learn more about how President Trump is reshaping crypto regulation in the US by checking
out the video right over here Anywh who we believe that this will help to attract a broad range of
investors to the crypto market over time be they retail or institutional investors And this is also
why we believe that although the market has been taking an absolute pounding lately we shouldn’t be
tapping out just yet The overall picture is still too bullish for us to be concerned about a bare
market starting anytime soon And in any case it was incredibly encouraging to see that crypto has
had such a positive impact on the lives of so many individuals and it seems on society as a whole But
we want to hear from you How has crypto impacted improve digital payments then check out our PayFi
video right over here And if you want to hear our thoughts on where Bitcoin could be heading in 2025
you can find out by checking out this video right over here Thank you all for watching and we’ll
see you in the next one This is Guy signing off
