The latest annual survey of the Federal Reserve has revealed that the percentage of United States adults who claimed to own cryptocurrency or have used it has reduced.
The SHED study shows that about 18 million out of the total adult population of the United States said that they had used cryptocurrencies in 2023. This is relatively lower than in past years, with the 2023 adult population survey revealing that only 7% of the surveyed adults use crypto, down from 10% in 2022 and 12% in 2021.
Minimal Use for Transactions
As for the respondents who indicated that they had ever used cryptocurrencies, only 1% said that they had used it for making financial transactions or sending money, which was down by 50% compared to the previous year. However, 7% of the respondents said that they buy or have invested in cryptocurrencies. The following are the findings from Federal Reserve, which goes against Coinbase’s assertion that 52 million Americans own cryptocurrencies. As for the numbers, Coinbase failed to explain how exactly it came up with the numbers.
The survey also revealed some demographic characteristics regarding the use of cryptocurrencies. Users with an annual income of $100,000 or above were more likely to have used cryptocurrencies for any purpose. As for the generation, millennials, 30 to 44 years old, dominated the list of crypto users, with generation Z adults, 18 to 29 years old, being second. From the survey, it was evident that men were more inclined to use cryptocurrencies than women with the ratio being 3:1.
As for the race, black and Hispanic adults were more likely to actively participate in employing crypto for the purpose of monetary transactions, and Asian adults were the largest group of people who invested in crypto. On the other hand, White adults were the least likely to use cryptocurrencies in any way, by a long shot.
Political Influence of Crypto
In addition to its use by the retail clients, politics has also been involved with cryptocurrencies. A political action committee (PAC) called Fairshake with the support of influential representatives of the cryptocurrency market has been focused on the Senate, with the goal to change the balance of forces in Congress. Lately, Fairshake, the advocacy group, has spent more than $10 million to defeat a Democratic U. S. Senate candidate in California.
A report from Coinbase also revealed that Californians who own cryptocurrencies will be instrumental in the 2024 elections. This is a clear indication of the rising power of crypto in political realms, as a majority of the 73% of US voters expect presidential candidates to have a clue about emerging technologies such as AI and crypto