Yahoo Finance Why millennials prefer Bitcoin
A third of millennials have noted that they’d prefer to hold Bitcoin over shares. These numbers only continue to increase for every year Bitcoin maintains its stance as an un-inflatable, un-confiscatable and un-compromisable form of asset.
Money and major new technologies are generational shifts. Whilst millennials are obviously open to Bitcoin, and many already prefer it as a form of investment, the younger generations are growing up in a Bitcoin native world. To them, a digital asset is a perfectly normal concept.
Furthermore; as Bitcoin continues to develop its brand as ‘digital Gold’, more and more traditional investors are looking to get exposure.
“We experienced this first hand at a recent Investor conference. A number of traditional investors, all who are familiar with currencies and precious metals such as gold were enquiring into how to buy and hold some Bitcoin for the very same reasons as they hold gold and other international currencies,” said Aleks Svetski, CEO of Bitcoin exchange platform, Amber.
This is further reinforced by major university endowment funds (eg. Harvard) investing in Bitcoin and digital assets via fund managers such as a16z.
All of this drives the narrative for Bitcoin as a viable investment, and because Bitcoin is what’s called ‘lindy compatible’, this narrative gets stronger with time.
In other words, for every year that Bitcoin is in market, stays secure, remains stable, and delivers on it’s guarantee as an un-inflatable, un-compromisable & un-confiscatable asset, its brand and user base gets stronger, the network grows and more capital continues to flows in, driving a virtuous, self reinforcing cycle.
Bitcoin is not a passing fad
Another survey found that millennials are 5 times more likely as older adults to say Bitcoin is the best way to save for the future.
"We’re not aware of any Investment in the world that offers such an asymmetric opportunity, ie; $1,000 in Bitcoin today could be worth $1 million in 10 years if Bitcoin succeeds in it’s promise as a global digital reserve asset, and if it fails, it will be worth zero” said Aleks Svetski.
" This is the KEY message we’re driving at Amber”.
Bitcoin’s potential risk/reward is significant, and people all around the world are starting to realise this, spearheaded by the millennial generation.
A report by Edelman has found that 25 per cent of American millennials, aged between 24 and 38, and earning $100,000 in individual or joint income, or owning $50,000 in investable assets, are either holding or using cryptocurrencies. Also, another 31 per cent are interested in using cryptocurrencies.
“Of the people who believe that cryptocurrencies will become widely accepted, over one-third (36 per cent) say they would be interested in converting to primarily using a cryptocurrency rather than the U.S. dollar,” the report stated.
“However, a majority (57 per cent) say they would not be interested in converting away from the U.S. dollar. Millennials are almost equally split between being interested (48 per cent) and not interested (50 per cent).”
According to a new eToro survey of 1000 online traders, 43 percent of millennial online traders place more trust in cryptocurrency exchanges than the United States stock market.
Millennials have lost trust
Younger investors’ loss of trust stems from the fall of Lehman Brothers and the like following the irresponsible practices that led to the worst recession since the Great Depression. Trust was further eroded when people all around the world watched hundreds of billions of dollars of taxpayer money funnelled into the largest financial institutions while their savings continued to evaporate.
"The banks got free money through quantitative easing while the average person’s cost of living continued to rise.”
It's no wonder the statistics are abysmal.
Three-quarters of affluent millennials fear that the global financial system is fragile, prone to hacks and their personal information will at some point be stolen. 58% of non-affluent millennials have the same opinion about the security of the global financial system, and a huge percentage of millennials (77 per cent of affluent and 58 per cent of non-affluent) are expecting another global financial crisis in the near future.
It’s this final point which is driving the zeitgeist of our time. Bitcoin represents a move to trusting math, over trusting the establishment. Personal sovereignty and responsibility is today's counter-culture.
It’s our version of “power to the people” and it’s being championed by Bitcoiners all around the world, working hard to build a new financial system, free of the limitations, corruption, exorbitant fees & censorship of the legacy financial system.
This shift is also driving what may be the greatest wealth transfer since the industrial revolution, or perhaps of all time.
Whatever happens, Bitcoin has fundamentally altered the world, in a way that nobody could’ve imagined a decade ago. What the world will look like in 10 years time, as we prepare to transition from 2029 to 2030, nobody really knows - but if Bitcoin is still around, it may well be the most valuable currency in the world, and the backbone of a global financial system that’s inherently more stable than anything we’ve had before.
Aleksandar Svetski is the CEO of Bitcoin exchange platform Amber.
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