Fearing recession, millennials prefer investing in cryptocurrencies

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

With recent talk about a possible recession in 2020, more millennials and Gen Zers are believing that the way to protect themselves and their assets is to turn to cryptocurrencies. This according to a survey conducted by the social investment platform eToro.

The survey, which was released on Tuesday, showed that 70% of the Gen Z and Millennial generations believe that a recession is on the horizon. With continual talk in the media pushing a narrative in the hopes that a recession will occur to derail the re-election campaign of U.S. President Donald Trump, many in the younger generations are fearing that this recession is likely to become a reality.

As a result, these groups are looking to convert their stock portfolios and other similar assets into what they view as safer investments. This includes traditional types of safe investments such as commodities and real estate but also includes crypto assets.

In a press release issued by Guy Hirsch, CEO at eToro, he stated, “We believe that if a recession were to occur, we’d see shrinking stock portfolios and growth in other asset classes like crypto, as well as new fractional ownership models. Historically, these investment opportunities have been limited to high net worth and institutional investors, but innovation is unlocking these opportunities for everyday investors and clearly, these results indicate that the demand is there.”

According to the survey, many are growing leery about a potential trade war between the U.S. and China, as well as voicing concerns about the challenges the country may face in regards to Mexico. While these fears extend across almost all demographics, it was clear that in the younger groups the fears are much more prevalent.

The survey found that 40% of Millennials, those who are born between 1980 and 1995, declared that they were intending to invest in crypto assets, while 50% of those in the Gen Z group, those born in 1995 or later, would prefer to invest in real estate.

The survey was commissioned by Provoke Insights, an independent marketing research, and strategy firm. The online survey occurred from July 18 through July 31 of this year, and a thousand investors responded from the U.S. To be able to participate in the survey, a person had to be between the ages of 20 and 65 and declared that they had made some form of trade, either stock, cryptocurrency, or ETF, in the last six months.

According to eToro, they used geographic and demographic information from the U.S. Census Bureau to help choose those who would participate in the survey to get a more accurate depiction of the online trading community.