A number of levers can explain the rapid growth of Bitcoin in 2017. We can mention in particular its unprecedented media coverage, or the initiatives emanating from institutional platforms such as the CBOE, the CME or the Nasdaq, which seem to confer new legitimacy on a currency that was hitherto often criticized.
The millennials seem to be particularly impacted by this frenzy, and many of them want to turn to the Bitcoin.
According to a study carried by the daily newspaper The Independent, one millennial out of three would be about to invest money in crypto coins by the end of next year.
The millennials are defined by demographers and researchers as people born between the early 1980s and early 2000s. This generation has grown up with new technologies, which seems to feed a certain appetite for crypto-money.
Youth could focus on digital currencies
The survey, carried out by the London Block Exchange cryptographic currency trading platform with 2000 British companies, revealed that 5% of those under 35 would already have invested in cryptocurrencies, and that 11% planned to do so next year. The younger generations seem to be attracted by these new asset classes, to the detriment of more "traditional" investments such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds or even real estate.
As prices per square metre in the UK soar, becoming increasingly inaccessible to younger generations, and the government has lowered the legal retirement age several times over, pension funds and real estate no longer seem to be regarded as exciting investments by younger generations.
Benjamin Dives, founder and CEO of LBX, explains this:
This study highlights the gap between how the younger generation perceives money and the relationship between their parents and grandparents. It is well known that in the past, they had been able to take advantage of attractive returns by investing money in pension funds or real estate. But the millennials clearly feel left out by the old system, and fear crypto-currency as the marker of entry into a new era."
Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin could thus become a preferred investment vehicle for this generation compared to more traditional assets.
The study also revealed that 24% of respondents said they regretted not having invested earlier in crypto-currencies, while the price of these coins soared in 2017.
Much less enthusiasm among baby boomers
This craze for crypto-money is much less pronounced among seniors.
For example, 57% of people over 55 years of age said they were not interested in investing in digital currencies. If the study does not reveal the reasons for this dislike, one might think that some of these populations may be less comfortable with technology, or that they do not have confidence in these dematerialized assets that shake up the "traditional" investment landscape.
This attraction of the millennials to digital currencies may also be part of a growing mistrust of banks on the part of younger generations.
Garrick Hileman, an expert in crypto-money science and lecturer at Cambridge University, explained that traditional banks and financial institutions are struggling to address the millennia:
The millennials began to generate revenue as the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis hit the economy. As a result, many of them do not fully trust traditional financial companies,"he said.
The arrival of new savers next year is good news for the ecosystem, as institutional investors can already speculate on the price of Bitcoin through futures contracts backed by the digital currency, offered since last Sunday by the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Reference: Bitcoinist, The Independent
