- A majority of Generation Zers surveyed by Business Insider said they didn’t have plans to purchase cryptocurrency anytime soon.
- Business Insider surveyed 1,884 people ages 13 to 21. Of those, more than 52% said they were not at all likely to purchase cryptocurrency in the next six months. Nearly 17% said they were not so likely.
- More than 26% said they were somewhat likely, very likely, or extremely likely to purchase cryptocurrency over that time period.
- Since the survey was conducted, however, popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum have seen their value increase significantly with Facebook’s June 18 announcement that it was creating its own cryptocurrency, Libra.
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The majority of Gen Z is bearish on buying cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey by Business Insider.
In January, on behalf of Business Insider, the SurveyMonkey Audience partner Cint surveyed 1,884 Americans ages 13 to 21 to learn how Generation Z views the world, including how it thinks about time and money on the internet and in the physical world.
Young adults and teens were asked to rate how likely they were to purchase cryptocurrency in the next six months. More than 52% said they were not at all likely to purchase cryptocurrency during the specified time period. Seventeen percent said they were not so likely.
Read more: THE STATE OF GEN Z: The smartphone generation is reaching a breaking point
After a bull run in 2017, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and Ethereum largely fell out of favor with the general public and maintained steady prices much lower than their 2017 highs.
But on June 18, after the survey was conducted, the social-networking giant Facebook released a white paper detailing plans to make a cryptocurrency called Libra. Both bitcoin and Ethereum have skyrocketed in price since the announcement.
The reinvigorated market could cause some of the teens in the survey to rethink their position, and it may spur the 26% who said they were somewhat likely, very likely, or extremely likely to purchase cryptocurrency to pull the trigger.
Though Facebook hasn't launched Libra, its white paper outlined plans for centralized governance through a consortium of massive finance and technology companies like Mastercard, Visa, Uber, and Spotify to help provide financial stability for its cryptocurrency, which it says any of its 2.6 billion users around the world will be able to use.