Millennials Trust Crypto Exchanges More

According to a new survey conducted by the investment platform eToro, almost 50% of the millennials trading online in the US trust cryptocurrency exchanges more than they do traditional stock exchanges.

Breakdown of Data

eToro collected the data related to investment attitudes in millennials. Then the data was analyzed on behalf of the investment platform by the market research and strategy company Provoke Insights in September last year.

In this study, 1,000 online investors between the ages of 20 and 65 were surveyed. According to Provoke Insights, the margin of error in the data is about 3%.

And according to that data, 43% of online millennial traders that had been surveyed showed less trust in the stock market and more in crypto exchanges.

93% of the respondents also stated that they would definitely invest in cryptocurrencies if traditional financial institutions offered such products. Additionally, 71% of the respondents who currently did not trade in cryptocurrencies stated that they would if the regular institutions offered them.

Of those surveyed, 45% stated that they would be willing to allocate cryptocurrencies in their 401(k) plan. The 401(k) is the retirement savings plan in the US. 74% also stated that they would like to be offered the option of investing in cryptos through their retirement plan providers.

Generational Shift in Perceptions

Guy Hirsch, the Managing Director of eToro stated that financial markets were now witnessing a generational shift in perception and trust from traditional stock markets to cryptocurrency markets.

He explained that this was taking place due to the very nature of the technology underscoring cryptocurrencies. He stated that immutability was the foundation of Blockchain technology. This meant that real-time auditing was not just possible, it was sensible as well as cost-effective.

Hirsch also said that younger investors already lost a lot of their trust in the traditional stock market during the 2008 financial crisis, which had started with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Due to the irresponsible practices of the many of the biggest financial institutions, the world was pulled into the worst recession since the Great Depression.

These investors also saw how their hard-earned money was being funneled into saving these institutions while their own savings dried up due to the recession. Hirsch said that seeing the cost of living go up while banks were granted free money only deepened their lack of trust in the traditional financial institutions.

All these factors have led millennial investors to believe that cryptocurrency exchanges would be less vulnerable to market manipulation. They also believe that crypto exchanges would not be as open to bad actors who get rewarded with taxpayers’ hard-earned money.