US Crypto Ownership Falls to 11% as 63% of Investors See High Risk

Investor Ownership Retreats From Its 2025 Peak

U.S. investors pulled backmost from cryptocurrency aft ownership reached a grounds level successful 2025. Gallup, the Washington-based probe and analytics company, released its latest survey connected Sept. 21, placing crypto ownership astatine 11% among investors with astatine slightest $10,000 successful investable assets, six percent points beneath past year’s 17% reading.

The June 1-15 canvass of 2,043 U.S. adults, including much than 1,000 investors, besides placed ownership among each adults astatine 9%, down from 14% successful Gallup’s archetypal measurement past year. Even aft the decline, the capitalist complaint remains supra the 6% recorded successful 2021 and the 2% measured successful 2018. The results besides showed that 66% of investors had nary involvement successful crypto, portion 19% were intrigued oregon planned to buy.

U.S. cryptocurrency ownership fell to 11% among investors and 9% among adults successful 2026, down from 17% and 14%, respectively, successful 2025. Source: Gallup.

Crypto investing besides represented a number enactment successful the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, with 9% of adults having bought oregon held cryptocurrency arsenic an investment during the preceding year. Only 2% utilized it for payments oregon transfers. Those measures screen prior-year enactment alternatively than existent ownership, making them chiseled from Gallup’s June snapshot.

The Pullback Is Broad, but Not Even

Younger men continued to basal isolated from each different capitalist radical adjacent arsenic their ownership complaint fell sharply. Twenty-four percent of antheral investors ages 18 to 49 reported holding cryptocurrency, down from 33% a twelvemonth earlier but inactive much than treble the complaint successful immoderate different property and sex category.

Income separated crypto owners from nonowners arsenic well. Fifteen percent of upper-income investors reported owning cryptocurrency, compared with 7% of middle-income investors and 4% of lower-income investors. Ownership among upper-income investors declined 4 percent points, a smaller driblet than the eight-point declines recorded for the 2 lower-income groups.

Risk concerns extended crossed some participants and those extracurricular the market, alternatively than belonging exclusively to nonowners. Gallup recorded 63% of investors calling cryptocurrency precise risky and 31% calling it somewhat risky. Even 47% of existent owners applied the highest-risk label, portion that appraisal roseate to 68% among investors who had nary involvement successful the plus class.

Differences successful expected returns and perceived hazard assistance explicate who participates, according to a July moving insubstantial published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Its researchers identified household concern expectations arsenic important factors associated with ownership. Younger men were disproportionately represented among holders, portion nonowners commonly cited constricted cognition oregon antagonistic views of crypto arsenic an investment.

Different Surveys Capture Different Markets

The varying ownership estimates bespeak who each survey measures and what it asks, alternatively than a azygous interchangeable number of U.S. holders. Gallup surveys adults and a defined capitalist group, portion the Federal Reserve tracks usage during the erstwhile year. A National Cryptocurrency Association survey estimated more than 67 cardinal U.S. crypto holders done a survey designed astir identified holders and extrapolated to the broader population.

The divergence besides appears successful probe centered connected radical already utilizing crypto wallets. A abstracted U.S. survey of wallet users recorded 31% of antheral respondents citing privateness arsenic their main crushed for utilizing crypto for mundane tasks, illustrating however motivations wrong the progressive idiosyncratic basal disagree from those of investors who stay extracurricular the market.

Knowledge gaps further separate existing holders from nonowners, according to the Cleveland Fed researchers’ household evidence. Insufficient accusation ranked arsenic the astir communal crushed for not owning cryptocurrency, followed by antagonistic assessments of its concern merits. Holders, by contrast, astir often cited expected profits and portfolio diversification arsenic their reasons for participating.

Those expectations link household information to crypto’s market cycles and concern risk done the returns radical expect and the losses they see possible. In an experimentation embedded successful the Cleveland Fed research, accusation astir past crypto returns accrued respondents’ desired allocations and their consequent cryptocurrency purchases.