Generational and Gender Differences in Crypto Investors

Too often, the crypto domain is portrayed like a formless entity that exists only as a selection of data, sometimes even anonymous in nature. This data is then utilized by the blockchain systems that make up the cryptocurrencies, but rarely are the owners of the data perceived a wholesome community behind the industry.

This is especially enforced by networks and individuals who staunchly believe that crypto should equate with anonymity. Yet, there are still those who cannot stop themselves from noticing the trends when it comes to cryptocurrency users. These include not so much the developers, but those who come at the end of the development cycle – traders and investors.

A recent poll showed that there is a shift in the way bitcoin is perceived and with it, the entire crypto domain. The same process is something on which many enthusiasts have been working ever since the network went online and right now, their results are becoming more visible.

However, there are still many additional factors for the users and investors into crypto. Here is the breakdown of the same population when it comes to the gender and generational differences between those who chose to invest into digital currency.

A Millenial Playing Field

A recent new poll conducted by the Circle, a crypto payment startup revealed more insight into the nature of those who trade crypto from a purely demographic perspective. According to it, about 25 percent of Millennials are interested in crypto investing over the next few years. The poll included more than 3,000 participants and it gathered that most Millenials believe that they are aggressive investors in the tech field.

Aside from the Millennial generation, the poll included members of the Baby Boomer generation, as well as those between the two, or the Generation X members. The poll was conducted via the Survey Monkey, but the research only published the results of those in the poll who stated that they are aggressive investors. There have been many different takes on the poll and what does it mean.

Some, because of that type of a polling approach, still believe that the results are inconclusive. Others, however, find that there are clear patterns in the data and that it shows that there is a big gender difference in the crypto investment domain.

Women and Men in Crypto Investment

Out of all the results, there is a single one that seems to be most relevant. According to the data, there are nearly twice as many male investors in the cryptocurrency domain. This shows a huge gender discrepancy and it is so large that there are no statistical means of explaining it.

In other words, it is not a mistake. Out of all of the investors identifying as female, there is about 27 percent of Millenials, nine percent of Baby Boomers and about 19 percent of the Generation X women who participated.

The rest either failed to respond to the questions about their gender or some other type of issue appeared and hampered with the categorization of the rest of the polled women. But, in any case, the gender differences are huge and there is clearly a phenomenon that is underneath it.

Why are Less Women Invested in Crypto?

Answering this question is incredibly tough, especially in the heated gender debate that has been simmering in the western culture on and off for the last 70 years. In many ways, the debate began with universal suffrage and the women drive for equality that provided them with a voice in an election almost a century ago.

Since then, the dynamic of the world has been moving rapidly when it comes to advancements and their counterculture compatriots that ushered it, but also when it comes to reactionary forces. The changing times hit another gear during the WW2 period when necessity forced the nations of the world to perceive women as equal in the work environment.

The time after the war once again gave way to reactionary viewpoints, until the explosion of the counterculture in the 1960s. Since then, the pacing of feminism, equality and the reaction to it has been hard to gauge with a range of parties included in the process either as actors in it or its critics. There are other domains that do not include things like acquiring bitcoin or some other digital currency.

Seemingly, when it comes to tech and its many alternatives in the modern world, women simply seem less invested in many different ways. In the case of crypto, they simply seem to invest less than their male counterparts. There is no easy way to explain this but the issue is clearly one that reaches far back in time and across many different historical moments.

Right now, the common wisdom would be for the cryptocurrency communities to support the process of women becoming involved in crypto. However, when the general state and unity of different crypto communities are taken into consideration, it is clear that this should not be expected any time soon.

The Generational Gap

Separately from this, the poll and the survey found out that as investors become older, they tend to become less aggressive. With Millennials, the number of investors who labeled themselves as aggressive is a 65 percent. With Baby Boomers, the same number is only 25 percent.

The risk assessment and evaluation clearly rises up sharply as the years rake up, so older investors are more hesitant to make big investments in such a volatile market. But, like with eSports and many other digitally native ventures, Millenials are naturally the first into the fray. As the market matures, they will not be alone and others will join in. However, the issue of gender differences might be a more pressing one.

As eToro, a social trading platform noted in its survey in May 2018, out of its 9 million users, just shy of nine percent were women. For now, instead of jumping to conclusions, the crypto community should just take notice of this and be mindful that gender equality is nowhere near this ecosystem.

Source: CoinDesk