More than 1 in 5 men younger than 44 years own or have used cryptocurrency — far more than any other demographic in the U.S., according to a new survey.
The NBC News Decision Desk poll, released Thursday, suggests that digital monetary assets haven’t yet hit the mainstream. Only 2 percent of adults surveyed said they own or trade cryptocurrency regularly, while 11 percent said they do occasionally.
Two-thirds of respondents said they have no interest trading in the digital currency market, the data shows.
The findings are similar to a Gallup poll last month that found 60 percent of U.S. adults have no interest in owning crypto.
The NBC poll also signals the crypto market has found a stronger base among young men. About 20 percent of male respondents younger than 30 said they have used digital assets, while 26 percent of men aged 31 to 44 have.
Comparatively, just 6 percent of women younger than 30 and 13 percent of women aged 31-44 use crypto, according to the survey.
Respondents overall didn’t put much stock in viewing cryptocurrency as a long-term investment. Just 15 percent said they view it as important for building wealth. By contrast, 64 percent said they think real estate investments are important, and 54 percent said the stock market is important, the poll found.
Many of those who are actively investing in digital assets said they do so because it’s easier to get into than other investments or they want to be part of the “crypto community,” per the results.
The NBC poll surveyed 30,196 adults across the country from Aug. 13 to Sept. 1. The margin of error was 1.9 percentage points.
