According to a recent report from the Federal Reserve, more than 10% of the adult population in the United States invested in or used cryptocurrencies during the 2021 bull run. American investors and consumers have gradually become used to cryptocurrencies. As CoinCulture reported previously, the number of crypto adopters in the U.S. is expected to reach 33.7 million in 2022.
12% of American adults invested in cryptocurrencies in 2021, and 3% utilised them for money transfers. Investors tended to have high incomes and access to conventional banking services. In contrast, those using cryptocurrencies for transactions tended to have lower incomes and, in some cases, lacked access to credit cards or bank accounts.
While 11% of U.S. adults purchased cryptocurrencies as investments, 2% used them for payments and purchases, and 1% used them to transfer money to friends and relatives.
46% of Americans buying crypto solely for financial reasons earned more than $100,000 annually, while 29% earned less than $50,000. In addition, 89% of non-retired investors had retirement savings, and 99% had bank accounts.
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In contrast, just 24% of those utilising crypto for money transfers reported an annual salary of $100,000 or more, while 60% earned less than $50,000 annually. Notably, 27% of transactional users lacked a credit card, and 13% lacked a bank account.
In addition, 6% of the U.S. population did not have a bank account, with black (13%) and Hispanic (11%) individuals being less likely to have a bank account than the general adult population.
Proponents have long contended that cryptocurrencies give marginalised and unbanked groups easy access to complicated payment networks. Even in nations with sophisticated banking sectors, such as the United States, the Fed report backs this idea.
The widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies occurred in 2020 and 2021, fuelled by a bull run that saw the price of Bitcoin increase from $3,000 to $69,000. Other digital assets such as NFTs have also obtained more popularity, with celebrities like Paris Hilton, Snoop Dogg, Steph Curry and Mark Cuban flaunting their Bored Apes on social media.
