Kim Kardashian, Cryptocurrency and Celebrity Clout

Kim Kardashian’s instagram post encouraging followers to “join the Ethereum Max community,” besides having a reach that would make most financial advisors drool, serves as the latest reminder that cryptocurrency’s audience is radically different from what financial services leaders are used to serving. Better data is also needed on where crypto investors go for advice, who they trust and how that differs from investors overall.

Roughly one in five adults reported seeing something about Kardashian’s crypto Instagram, according to a poll conducted in the days following the post, and the share was higher among crypto owners, at 31 percent. 

Kardashian’s conversion was also impressive: A striking 19 percent of respondents who said they heard about the post invested in Ethereum Max as a result. 

But that doesn’t mean that celebrity endorsements are good for crypto in general -- at least not from Kardashian. After being told in the survey that the reality star endorsed Ethereum Max, trust in cryptocurrencies in general dropped roughly 5 points.

While crypto owners are more likely than the typical investor to turn to celebrities for crypto advice, those that own crypto put more stock into what a traditional financial advisor would recommend.  

When seeking out information about investing generally, crypto owners differ from other investors even more. They’re more likely to go to more sources for investing information than general investors, specifically social media and from investment apps such as Robinhood or Betterment. 

Crypto owners do tend to be younger, and younger investors are more likely to say that social media has impacted their financial decisions. Investment leaders will need to remember that although financial advisors are still a trusted source of advice, they’re competing with more sources of information for crypto investors’ mindshare.