About 78% Of Americans Say They’re Uncomfortable Investing In Cryptocurrencies

Regardless of all of the hype round cryptocurrency, the overwhelming majority of Individuals say they’re uncomfortable investing in it, in response to Bankrate’s 2025 Lengthy-Time period Funding Survey. Practically 4 in 5 Individuals (78 %) say they’re not snug placing their funding {dollars} in crypto.

So, what could be making Individuals uncomfortable with cryptocurrency? And what are another investments which have confirmed observe information of enticing, long-term returns? Let’s have a look.

Individuals stay uncomfortable with cryptocurrency

Bankrate’s Lengthy-Time period Funding Survey indicated clearly that Individuals largely really feel uncomfortable investing in Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies, and solely a comparatively small proportion had been snug with them. Right here’s how the survey’s outcomes break down:

• Very snug — 5 %
• Considerably snug — 15 %
• Not too snug — 28 %
• Under no circumstances snug — 49 %
• Had not heard of it — 2 %

The 2025 outcomes had been much like these of the identical survey in 2022, when Bankrate final performed it. In 2022, 21 % of Individuals had been “very” or “considerably” snug, in comparison with 75 % who had been both “not too snug” or “in no way snug.”

Youthful generations are typically extra snug with cryptocurrency. Within the 2025 survey, about 28 % of Gen Z stated they had been “very snug” or “considerably snug” with it, in comparison with 30 % of millennials, 21 % of Gen X and 6 % of boomers.

The dangers of investing in cryptocurrency

Whereas the Bankrate survey didn’t ask respondents to say particularly why they had been uncomfortable with investing in cryptocurrency, it did supply at the very least one clue. That’s, the survey requested Individuals why they didn’t choose shares as their prime funding, and the highest cause was their notable volatility. Volatility — the stomach-churning up and down of an funding — makes investing tough for a lot of merchants.

Volatility

Whereas shares are well-known for his or her volatility, cryptocurrency has it in spades.

“Missing conventional fundamentals equivalent to money circulation, the motion in cryptocurrency costs are largely sentiment-driven,” says Greg McBride, CFA, Bankrate chief monetary analyst. “As sentiment shifts wildly, so, too, do crypto costs.”

For instance, throughout its lifetime of round 16 years, Bitcoin has misplaced 60 % of its worth or extra in three totally different calendar years. This stage of volatility scares buyers, forcing them out of investments — after they’ve misplaced cash — as the worth of crypto yo-yos.

Cryptocurrency is just not backed by something

It’s additionally essential to know that cryptocurrency (generally) is just not backed by the property or money circulation of an underlying enterprise, not like conventional investments. The worth of most cryptocurrencies relies solely on the sentiment of merchants and whether or not they anticipate a crypto coin to rise or fall in worth. If demand for a coin disappears, the coin can turn out to be actually nugatory.

So the one factor that retains the worth of a crypto rising is by drawing more cash to it — that’s, by hyping it and attempting to generate extra pleasure. For instance, many crypto analysts merely situation bigger and bigger value targets for fashionable cash equivalent to Bitcoin, serving to to maintain up pleasure that the crypto can rise sooner or later and drawing extra funding {dollars} to it right now.

On this mild, it’s fairly cheap that Individuals are uncomfortable investing in cryptocurrency.

Lack of know-how and regulation

Many Individuals — maybe particularly the younger, who’re most snug with crypto — might lack the data and experience to see the hazard of investing in an asset primarily based on nothing and with out sufficient regulation that requires minimal requirements for elevating cash for one.

Whereas cryptocurrency has been round for a lot of years, many individuals nonetheless don’t know what it’s or why among the hottest cryptocurrencies appear to go up (and down). Whereas Bitcoin has seen its value go up many, many occasions, 1000’s of different cryptocurrencies have gone nowhere or have been outright frauds and blown up totally, costing buyers billions.

The crypto market is successfully unregulated, which means anybody can create a cryptocurrency and buyers have few protections. Once more, actually anybody can create a cryptocurrency and lift cash, and greater than 20,000 cryptocurrencies are traded on exchanges, in response to many estimates, although some estimates put the variety of present cryptocurrencies within the hundreds of thousands.

Facilitation of crime

Cryptocurrency has additionally infamously been utilized by many criminals, permitting them to extra simply commit crimes equivalent to extortion and cash laundering. The semi-anonymity of cryptocurrency and the finality of it — when you’ve despatched the cryptocurrency, it’s gone endlessly — make it straightforward for criminals to make use of crypto to transact their enterprise.

Various investments to cryptocurrency

Individuals have a lot of confirmed various investments which have a powerful document of returns, and, importantly, they’re backed by property, not like most cryptocurrencies.

Shares

The inventory market, as measured by the S&P 500 inventory index, has delivered about 10 % annual returns over time, making it one of many finest long-term investments. In actual fact, in Bankrate’s 2025 Lengthy-Time period Funding Survey, Individuals picked the inventory market as their prime long-term funding for cash that they don’t want for a decade or extra.

“With crypto, any return on funding is solely depending on the worth growing from what you paid for it,” says McBride. “However shares symbolize possession in actual companies and money circulation will be reinvested within the firm, used to make acquisitions, or returned to shareholders by means of dividends and inventory buybacks.”

Shares are fractional possession of an organization, and the inventory’s efficiency is pushed over time by the efficiency of that enterprise. Anybody can personal a chunk of profitable firms equivalent to Amazon (AMZN), Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) and Apple (AAPL) — and your long-term returns mirror their enterprise success. Plus, if it’s good to generate revenue, you possibly can put money into dividend shares and benefit from the money circulation.

“Research have proven that over lengthy funding horizons, dividends comprised roughly 40 % of an investor’s complete return,” says McBride. “Not solely does this will let you earn money in a flat market, however reinvesting these dividends is an additional compounder of wealth.”

Actual property

Actual property is one other fashionable funding, and it’s usually amongst Individuals’ most most well-liked investments, coming in second in Bankrate’s survey. Actual property, whether or not it’s a major residence or an funding property, has delivered enticing returns over time, significantly to those that can maintain on for many years and keep away from the substantial transaction prices and taxes. Actual property will be an effective way to generate revenue, too, providing you money every month.

An funding in actual property is backed by the property, not like an funding in cryptocurrency.

Bonds

Bonds are a comparatively protected kind of asset that can be backed by the property and money circulation of a enterprise or authorities, not like cryptocurrency. With bonds, you make an funding, earn curiosity through the lifetime of the bond after which obtain the bond’s face worth when it matures. Bonds are a sexy place if it’s good to generate revenue, for instance, for retirees.

Whereas bonds aren’t a lot recognized for appreciating in worth, they’re a confirmed long-term funding.

Funding funds

Funding funds — whether or not they’re mutual funds or exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — supply enticing long-term returns. These funds personal stakes in shares and bonds, and the funds’ complete return displays the efficiency of their investments. A few of the finest ETFs purchase high-growth shares and allow them to compound your wealth for years, and all it’s good to do is maintain on.

“Particular person buyers have been well-served by common contributions to broad-based, low-cost index funds which might be held over a few years with all distributions reinvested,” says McBride.

Funding funds additionally personal dozens, typically tons of, of investments, decreasing the danger of a single funding in addition to decreasing the volatility of the fund. These funds are backed by their investments, that are supported by the property and money circulation of actual underlying firms.

“Use this as your blueprint,” says McBride. “You get instantaneous diversification from the primary greenback you make investments, rock-bottom funding bills, low or no minimal funding, and common automated contributions and reinvestment of all distributions allow you to construct your place effortlessly over time.”

Backside line

Most Individuals stay uncomfortable investing in cryptocurrency, and the dangers of investing in it stay outrageously excessive, together with the truth that it’s not backed by something in any respect. In distinction, Individuals have a lot of different investments with sturdy observe information of confirmed returns.