What Brands Need to Know About Crypto Traders
Key Takeaways
About three quarters (74%) of crypto traders are men. Women tend to have a more cautious approach to their finances, so speculative investing holds little appeal, while crypto traders tend to have much higher consumer confidence and risk tolerance.
Crypto traders are very active on X and Reddit, and when they’re not on social media they’re often playing video games.
They have a confident, early tech adopter and trend setter mentality that drives their overall consumption, not just their investing strategy.
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About one-in-five (20%) of U.S. adults are crypto traders, meaning they report buying and selling cryptocurrency at some interval, whether that be multiple times a day or less than once a month. That number has crept up very slightly from about 17% since Morning Consult began tracking in 2022. That growth is coming from a very particular demographic, namely men, millennials and those with higher household incomes.
This group is one that innovative brands have good reason to pay attention to: they’re trend setters, and not just in the financial world. They’re extremely online, attuned to trends and willing to pay up when products impress them.
Crypto traders are likely to be male millennials
The gender divide in crypto is stark: 74% of crypto traders are men. This is consistent with women’s tendency to be more financially pessimistic and risk averse. Crypto traders are of course more risk tolerant than the average investor, buoyed by strong positive consumer sentiment. Their near-term and long-term consumer outlook is much rosier than it is for the average consumer, with a 13-16 percentage point difference in positive sentiment across all confidence measures. Their sentiment jumped upward by 6.5 points from October to November 2024 when Trump was elected for a second term, promising an administration more friendly to cryptocurrency. That sentiment has moderated somewhat since, but remains higher than it was a year ago.
They’re also youthful, with millennials leading the pack in generational representation. High-earning millennials tend to be more financially optimistic than their wealthy counterparts in other generations: They’re at a sweet spot in that they have a long runway for investment risk, and are also entering their peak earning years in their 40s.
Men, millennials, urban dwellers and high earners are over represented among crypto traders
Cryptocurrency’s shifting regulatory environment means this cohort has an outsized interest in politics. They lean right politically, though that’s a more recent phenomenon: The share of Democrats considering purchasing Bitcoin has been relatively flat over time, while the share of Republicans considering the same, has trended upward since early 2023 as the appeal of business-friendly regulation (or lack thereof) is consistent with their ethos.
Crypto traders are big X and Reddit users
This group is very active online, flocking to X and Reddit to keep up to date with conversations and news about crypto trends. They’re nearly as likely as the general population to use social media to keep up with friends and family, but put much more emphasis in their usage on keeping up with the zeitgeist, following politicians, influencers, journalists, and creatives.
They’re also keeping up with their networks. More than a third (38%) of crypto traders say they use social media for networking and business, 19 points higher than the share of all U.S. adults. This also explains their usage of LinkedIn being so much higher than the general population.
Crypto traders use X and Reddit at much higher rates than the general population
This group is also big gamers: They're much more likely to play computer and console games. Half are Twitch users, with 39% following gaming experts and studios on social media (+19 points over the general population).
Crypto traders are ahead of the curve, not just in their investing strategy
The psychographic profile of crypto traders reveals that they’re much more likely than the general population to say they’re early adopters of all types of technology, not just crypto: 62% agreed that they are “generally among the first to try a new technology product.” That’s unsurprising given their adoption of novel currency primarily as an investment vehicle, but helps to paint a picture of this audience as a novelty seeking, risk taking and trend setting cohort. They’re always looking out for the latest trends, and strive to impress others with their lifestyle.
Crypto traders are trend setting early adopters
This adventurous, goal oriented group says they’ll pay a premium for products that are more sustainable, or are higher quality. Innovative, tech-forward brands have a strong audience in crypto traders, and their concentrated presence on X, Reddit and in gaming networks makes this audience easy to find online. They’re not passive observers though, they’re active in discussions so both wins and missteps will be amplified through their networks.
