Cryptowire, NEW YORK: Recent surveys and official reports released in 2025 show Gen Z has become one of the strongest drivers of crypto adoption, with younger investors entering markets earlier, holding digital assets at higher rates and playing a growing role in the retail expansion of cryptocurrency. The data also show that the broader rise in crypto valuations has extended beyond youth participation alone, with market officials pointing to growing involvement from both retail and traditional financial investors as digital assets moved further into the mainstream.
Gemini’s 2025 global State of Crypto report said nearly one in four respondents across the countries it surveyed currently owned cryptocurrency, while half of Gen Z and Millennial respondents said they either currently owned crypto or had owned it in the past, at 52% and 48% respectively. In a separate Gemini survey published in January, 51% of Gen Z respondents globally reported current or past crypto ownership, compared with 35% of the general population, while in the United States the figure for Gen Z stood at 51%, ahead of Millennials at 49% and Gen X at 29%.
Broader investing research points to the same direction. The World Economic Forum said in its 2024 Global Retail Investor Outlook, released in March 2025, that 30% of Gen Z began investing in university or early adulthood, compared with 15% of Millennials, 9% of Gen X and 6% of Baby Boomers. The same report said 27% of investor respondents globally hold crypto. The OECD, citing prior FINRA Foundation and CFA Institute research, said 44% of U.S. Gen Z investors made their first investment in crypto assets, compared with 35% of Millennials and 23% of Gen X investors.
Early investors reshape crypto adoption
That early entry into markets is increasingly showing up across investment products tied to digital assets. Gemini said 39% of U.S. crypto owners held crypto exchange-traded funds in 2025, up from 37% a year earlier, indicating continued interest after the launch of spot crypto ETFs in the United States in 2024. At the market level, the European Central Bank said crypto asset valuations benefited from broadening investor interest, including from traditional finance, and its November 2025 financial stability review said total crypto market capitalization breached the $4 trillion mark for the first time in July.
Regulators have also paired those adoption figures with warnings about risk. A 2025 report by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets said between 9% and 15% of Gen Z in the Netherlands hold cryptocurrency. The same report said one in five crypto holders aged 16 to 24 takes more risk in trading activity, often using leverage or borrowed funds. The ECB said crypto remains highly volatile even as it becomes more intertwined with traditional finance, while the OECD said lower digital financial literacy can leave younger users more exposed to losses in fast moving markets.
Broader rally extends beyond Gen Z
Additional U.S. survey data released late in 2025 point to a wider generational split in portfolio choices. Coinbase, citing an Ipsos survey of U.S. adults and investors, said 45% of younger investors, combining Gen Z and Millennials, already own crypto, compared with 18% of older investors. It also said younger investors hold 25% of their portfolios in non traditional assets such as crypto, derivatives and NFTs, versus 8% for older investors. Those figures add to evidence that digital assets have become more embedded in the investment habits of younger adults.
Taken together, the reports show Gen Z has become a major entry point for cryptocurrency ownership and one of the clearest sources of retail demand in the market. At the same time, official market assessments show the latest crypto surge has also been supported by widening participation from institutional channels, exchange-traded products and traditional finance, leaving digital assets both more widely held and more closely watched by regulators and central banks.