One In Four Millennials Uses Crypto to Fund Retirement: Report

One in four millennials has said that they are relying on cryptocurrency to help fund their retirement and the percentage of millennials likely to invest in crypto (38 percent) is close to those who invest in the stock market (37 percent), a new survey has found.

The survey by Investopedia, which was published Monday, asked 4,000 U.S. adults—1,000 each from Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X and Boomer generations—about their financial know-how, habits, worries and retirement plans.

The results show many younger Americans are now banking on riskier assets to pay for earlier retirements, and turning to social media to teach them how.

The survey stated that those from GenZ and GenX aren't far behind in crypto investments, with 23 percent and 28 percent, respectively, owning the digital currency.

"More than half (53 percent) of Gen Z respondents expect to stop working before age 60, and many intend to rely on social security (27 percent) and crypto (17 percent) to fund their retirement. 10 percent of Gen Z, 15 percent of Millennials, and 13 percent of Gen X are invested in non-fungible tokens (NFTs)," it said.

The next generation prefers to learn about money through social media channels. While 39 percent of Gen Z investors said they turn to YouTube for their investing information, 30 percent use TikTok for personal finance information.

The survey also cited internet searches (39 percent) and conversations with friends and family (44 percent) as important sources of information.

"Our relationship to money, investing, and financial planning has radically changed in the past few years," said Investopedia Editor in Chief Caleb Silver.

"New asset classes like crypto and NFTs have emerged just as millions of people are taking their first steps into investing. These changes require a modernized approach to financial education—one that provides people of all ages with knowledge of new, emerging, and traditional financial products and services. As financial educators, it is our responsibility to make sure we are fostering that literacy as far and wide as we can."

Despite governments globally trying to put stricter regulations on crypto, the interest among citizens to invest in digital currencies seems to be growing.

Another report released Monday said that nearly half of all current cryptocurrency owners in the U.S., Latin America and the Asia Pacific first bought their digital assets in 2021, making last year a transformative year for cryptos.