- According to a Zerohash survey, 61% of U.S. investors aged 18–40 now own cryptocurrencies, with 44% of the youngest investors holding crypto.
- Financial advisers are seeing client departures, as 35% of investors shift substantial assets from those who don’t offer crypto.
ZeroHash, a crypto payments firm and B2B infrastructure platform, partnered with Centiment, an independent research firm known for producing quality market and consumer-behaviour insights, to ensure the accuracy and credibility of its findings.
Centiment surveyed 500 U.S.-based investors between the ages of 18 and 40. All participants fell within the $100,000 to over $1 million household income bracket.
By targeting this specific income and age group, the survey captures a detailed snapshot of how younger, financially successful Americans are approaching digital assets.
The report reads,
Crypto has shifted from optional to expected. Advisors who offer insured, transparent access can position themselves at the centre of the next generation of wealth creation: expanding wallet share, improving retention, and driving new growth.
Crypto Is Becoming a Core Portfolio Allocation
According to the survey, 61% of U.S. investors aged 18–40 now hold cryptocurrencies, and within this group, 43% allocate 5–10% of their portfolios to digital assets, 27% allocate 11–20%, and 11% allocate more than 20%.
This indicates that a subset of young investors views these assets as a core component of their wealth strategy rather than a speculative side bet.
Yet despite this surge in interest, many traditional financial advisers are struggling to keep pace. The study found that 76% of crypto holders manage their investments independently, relying on self-directed platforms rather than advisers, and only 24% hold crypto with professional guidance.
Moreover, 35% of investors have already moved substantial funds away from advisers who do not offer crypto exposure, with more than half of those transfers ranging between $250,000 and $1 million.
The demand for crypto access is clear: 64% of investors say they would stay with their adviser longer or increase assets held if crypto options were offered, and 84% plan to increase their crypto allocations over the next 12 months, with 46% anticipating an increase.
Investors Want Crypto, But They Want Safety Too
At the same time, investors recognise the risks inherent in digital assets. Many cryptocurrencies are built on blockchain platforms using smart contracts, which are self-executing pieces of code that can be exploited if they contain vulnerabilities.
Individual investors are also frequent targets for scams, including phishing attacks, fake websites, and fraudulent communications posing as exchanges or wallets that steal private keys or seed phrases, and 70% of investors cite them as key issues.
To mitigate these risks, 56% of the respondents highlight the importance of independent audits, transparent reporting, and 54% emphasised the use of regulated custodians as the top reassurances when managing crypto holdings.
The report goes on to explain,
Comparing HNW with Emerging and Mass affluent investors shows one clear trend: wealthier clients are more engaged, more invested, and more demanding when it comes to crypto access and advisory support.
High-net-worth (HNW) investors have shown more interest in cryptocurrency compared to the mass affluent, with 69% owning crypto versus 60% of the latter group. More importantly, their allocations are intentional, with 58% of HNW investors committing 11–20% of their portfolios to crypto, compared with just 34% of mass-affluent investors.
Bitcoin (BTC) remains the most widely held and sought-after digital asset, serving as the entry point for most new crypto investors and the asset many associate with long-term growth and store-of-value potential.
However, the HNW are expanding beyond BTC and Ethereum (ETH) into other altcoins like Solana (SOL) and stablecoins like Tether (USDC). Notably, 51% of HNW clients have already shifted assets away from advisers who offer limited exposure or no crypto access.
This further emphasises that advisors who fail to integrate crypto into their offerings risk losing substantial portions of client assets, not just small allocations, as younger and wealthier investors increasingly treat digital assets as a central component of their long-term investment strategy.
