Most Americans are steering clear of Bitcoin BTC/USD and its cousins, judging the tokens a gamble too rich for their wallets, a new Gallup poll finds.
What Happened: Six in 10 adults say they will "never" buy cryptocurrency, the strongest rejection since the analytics firm began tracking the market in 2018.
The June survey of 2,017 adults shows only 4% plan to purchase digital coins "in the near future," while another 17% are intrigued but not ready to act, 6% remain unsure or unfamiliar.
Roughly 1 in 7 Americans, which amounts to 14% of the survey participants, already own cryptocurrency, about the same level reported last year but still well above the single-digit ownership in 2021.
Risk perception looms large. 85% of non‑owners call crypto either "very" or "somewhat" risky, dwarfing the 60% who attach those labels to the stock market.
See Also: Elon Musk’s Tesla Sits On $284 Million Bitcoin Windfall In Q2, Refuses to Cash Out
The aversion is sharpest among older investors. Just 12% of Americans 50‑plus hold tokens versus 25% of men aged 18‑49. Ownership also runs highest among upper‑income households, college graduates and political conservatives, each at 19%.
Familiarity is nearly universal, with only 5% stating that they have not heard of crypto, yet knowledge is still thin. As many as 60% concede they "don't know much" about the asset class.
Why It Matters: Skepticism persists despite a year of record inflows into crypto funds and Bitcoin's rise past $100,000, trends analysts attribute mainly to institutional hedging rather than Main Street demand, according to Reuters. Even bankers at last winter's Reuters NEXT conference said they remain on the sidelines until regulation is clearer.
Notably, Bitcoin touched an all-time high of $123,091.61 last week. It is currently trading at 3.9% below that level at the time of writing at $117,995.27.
That wariness echoes a Pew Research Center finding last fall that 63% of U.S. adults doubt current ways to buy and trade digital coins are safe or reliable. A separate survey from April warned that recession fears are making retail investors even more risk‑averse, a headwind for crypto adoption.
Photo Courtesy: Volodymyr Maksymchuk on Shutterstock.com
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