Bitcoin enthuasiam drawing power from millennials

By Tim Fries

Millennials are embracing  Bitcoin (BTC) as it continues to mature at an alarming rate. Only 12 years ago, Satoshi Nakamoto authored the ground-breaking whitepaper Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System. Since then, Bitcoin has built entire fortunes for those who dared to be the first adopters.

Bitcoin- Its changing nature 

Although the nature of Bitcoin is still a subject of debate, Bitcoin is currently undergoing a bull run reminiscent of 2017, which marked its highest price point at nearly $20k.

With the recent news of PayPal facilitating Bitcoin payments, new life appears to have been pumped into the Bitcoin world. A recent survey suggests a continuous rate of Bitcoin adoption over the last three years, however.

To gain a clearer perspective of the forces involved in propelling Bitcoin forward, we have to take a step back and look at Bitcoin adoption attitudes among different demographic groups.

A Bitcoin adoption survey from earlier this year examined Bitcoin sentiment from over 4,800 participants, collating Bitcoin attitudes from 2017 to 2020.

In essence, the survey asked questions similar to those of previous surveys in 2017. The results were strikingly different, however.

Younger Generation Prefer Modern Tech Over Legacy Assets

Compared to 2017, 29% more survey respondents view Bitcoin with greater confidence, of which most are millennials.

In total, 47% of respondents would place their trust in Bitcoin over traditional banks. Male millennials are the leading group here with 54% preferring Bitcoin.

This corresponds with the optimistic attitude of 43% of respondents, of which 59% millennials, that the majority of people will in some way use Bitcoin in the upcoming decade.

In fact, JPMorgan’s recent analysis bolsters this trend further by positing that millennials represent the main demographic driving Bitcoin adoption forward:

“The potential long-term upside for bitcoin is considerable as it competes more intensely with gold as an ‘alternative’ currency we believe, given that Millennials would become over time a more important component of investors’ universe,”

Speaking of Bitcoin slowly supplanting gold and other traditional assets such as real estate and bonds, 45% of millennials prefer Bitcoin over such legacy investments serving as protection against inflation. This represents a 13% increase compared to 2017.

However, although Bitcoin familiarity has been greatly increased across all demographic groups by 36% compared to 2017, the 65+ age range is least likely to actually engage in using Bitcoin as an alternative currency, or as a store of value.

Accordingly, only 3% of respondents within the 65+ age range would deal with Bitcoin in any capacity in the next five years.

On the other hand, 44% of millennials responded to being more amenable to buying Bitcoin in the next five years.

At least part of this is likely due to increased access to Bitcoin. Even before PayPal’s plan to integrate cryptocurrencies, small businesses could already settle client invoices via Bitcoin.

Do People Continue to View Bitcoin as a Fad?

Even those investors who gained wealth with Bitcoin trading tend to view Bitcoin as a bubble in the past. Nonetheless, over the last three years, this trend has decreased significantly, with only 24% of millennials viewing Bitcoin as a bubble in 2020.

Predictably, the 65+ demographic remains largely skeptical, with over 50% perceiving Bitcoin as a bubble that will eventually burst.

Interestingly, this shift in view among millennials corresponds with the rising trend of hodlers – people who hold onto Bitcoin for long periods of time.

Given the economic destabilization induced by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent massive financial injections by the Federal Reserve, it stands to reason people would start viewing Bitcoin as a digital gold existing outside the system of possible USD devaluation.

Institutional investors, such as London-based Mode Global Holdings, are already moving in that direction. The FinTech company had recently announced it will put at least 10% of its treasury reserve in the form of Bitcoin, which will further fortify Bitcoin’s credibility.

Takeaway – Bitcoin Enters New Era of Adoption and Resilience

Millennials have clearly driven Bitcoin to its current stage of renewed institutional and retail enthusiasm. Moreover, we are already seeing signs of Bitcoin’s maturity.

For instance, last month’s news of Kucoin’s exchange hack, and BitMEX coming under CFTC attack, failed to cause Bitcoin’s price to decrease.

In previous years, both of such events happening inside one week would’ve caused a significant price drop, as it happened when Mt.Gox exchange was hacked, causing Bitcoin to drop by 36%.

Moving forward, thanks to the feedback loop between DeFi, distrust of the Fed/USD, institutional investors, and PP penetration, Bitcoin is poised to gain a new, more stable momentum. Big speculative whales will occasionally disrupt it, but not enough to endanger Bitcoin’s appeal as digital gold.

The original survey can be found here: https://tokenist.com/bitcoin-survey-2017-vs-2020/

Prepared by Patrick O’Brien.

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