Seven Out of 10 Americans Consider Cryptocurrency High Risk

NFTs and cryptocurrency continue to be considered risky bets by the majority of the American public. 

Data from Variety Intelligence Platform’s “Demographic Divide” study, fielded by our data partner GetWizer, illustrates that the former darlings of Web3 have a considerable perception gap to overcome if they are ultimately to become mainstream formats. 

Our results show that the majority of all age groups consider cryptocurrency to be a high-risk investment. And the risk tolerance of the young does factor here, as only 60% of those 15-29 surveyed rated crypto to be high risk, versus 90% of those 60 and older. 

When looking at how this perception has trended over time, it is worth noting that the best period for the likes of Bitcoin and Ethereum was in January 2022, just before the “crypto winter” struck. Back then, the high-risk score actually improved, from 68% the first time we polled consumers to 63%. It’s now the highest we have ever tracked, at 72%. 

The strong assumption of risk is a key driver for why crypto ownership has not moved for 18 months. Just under 1 in 10 Americans report having at least one cryptocurrency account and, with consumer spend likely to tighten in the coming months with the return of student loan payments beginning in October, shouldn’t be expected to grow any time soon. 

NFTs also suffer from the risk perception, with older consumers more than twice as likely to consider them a bad investment as those under 45. 

The overall perception for NFTs as an investment tool has not changed in the last year, with 28% of Americans saying NFTs are a good investment, another 28% neutral and 44% thinking them to be bad investments. 

NFT ownerships haven’t budged over the last year, either. This is worth noting, as media companies do still occasionally announce a new NFT project. Currently, it would appear that these are not attracting new consumers to the space, but as VIP+ predicted a year ago, once factors such as climate change get worse, the premise of the technology behind NFTs will see an uptick in interest. 

For the next year or two, however, expect NFTs and cryptocurrency to remain broadly unpopular among the population. Until negative headlines cease, these formats will continue to be objects of suspicion for most Americans.