Updated: April 25, 2023 | By Caroline Smith
Cryptocurrency and its underlying technology stand to fundamentally alter the financial services industry, particularly the way consumers manage their finances and transact with one another. Or it could all be just a passing fad. The speed of cryptocurrency’s adoption and the uncertainty about its future mean it is imperative that financial services leaders track its developments.
The methodology for the quarterly tracker is included at the bottom of this page.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Amid bank failures and industry uncertainty, cryptocurrency ownership has ticked up since last year. One month since the failures of three U.S. banks, including the crypto-heavy Signature Bank and Silvergate Capital, crypto ownership is at 22% among U.S. adults. This is a substantial 4-percentage-point increase in ownership from April 2022.
Though overall ownership is up, many also sold crypto in the last month. Amid volatile pricing in the past month, many sold bitcoin to cash in on a mid-March price jump. Nearly half (46%) of crypto owners reported selling bitcoin in the past month, up from 27% in April 2022. Sales of ethereum have more than doubled year over year (from 16% to 33%), and sales of binance coin have more than tripled (from 10% to 34%).
Crypto bank failures did not dent trust in cryptocurrency, but they did spur desire for more regulation. Although still a minority, the share of U.S. adults who said they trust cryptocurrency (31%) did not change much as a result of major events in the crypto industry in early March. The share of adults who believe cryptocurrency should be regulated more than other financial assets, however, has been on an upward swing over the past year, rising from 19% in April 2022 to 29% this month.
Share of U.S. adults who say they own cryptocurrency
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CRYPTOCURRENCY OWNERSHIP AND USAGE
Share of respondents who say they own each
Shares of each reporting that they own bitcoin
Share of cryptocurrency owners saying they sold any of the following in the last month:
Reported likelihood of purchasing cryptocurrency in the next month
CRYPTOCURRENCY FAMILIARITY AND OPTIONS
Share reporting they are very or somewhat familiar
Respondents who had heard of a given topic were asked how much they trust it (net trust)
Respondents were asked how regulated cryptocurrency should be relative to financial assets such as securities and investment funds
Respondents were asked which statement they agree with more
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Methodology
The Cryptocurrency Insights Hub relies on data collected quarterly through Morning Consult’s proprietary survey research capabilities. The interviews are conducted online, and the data are weighted to approximate a representative sample of U.S. adults based on gender, educational attainment, age, race and region. Results from the full survey have a monthly sample size of 4,400 U.S. adults and an unweighted margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.
In October 2022, Morning Consult changed the survey frequency of our Cryptocurrency Insights Hub. To request monthly data from January 2022 to August 2022, please reach out to press@morningconsult.com.
About Morning Consult
Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com
About the author
Caroline Smith is a manager of financial services intelligence at Morning Consult, where she analyzes high-frequency data to help the company deliver real-time insights to the financial services sector.
The author would like to thank Charlotte Principato for her contributions to this research.
Email press@morningconsult.com to speak with a member of the Morning Consult team.