A newly conducted poll shows that 21 percent of Americans already own or have owned cryptocurrency, a level of acceptance that tracks with internet adoption rates in 1995. As of 1995, 18 percent of Americans said they had used the internet; by 1999, that number was 64 percent.

Of the 21 percent of Americans who have owned crypto, according to the new poll conducted by Verasight, the overwhelming majority are under age 50. Ownership rates are negligible for Americans over 65, or those between 50 and 64 years old, where the rates of ownership are 4 percent and 7 percent respectively.

The age group most likely to own crypto is not the youngest, as might be expected. While 23 percent of those between 18 and 29 own crypto, that is true among 42 percent of Americans between 30 and 49. Americans at higher income levels are much more likely to have owned crypto at any point, as are those with high risk propensities. 

Overwhelmingly, they say they own it for investment purposes and plan to hold it over the long term. Of people who own stocks or bonds, 41 percent also own crypto. 

Sixty-eight percent of people who say they own cryptocurrency claim to do so because they see it as an investment opportunity, the poll says, and 77 percent “have a long-term holding strategy,” versus 23 percent who day trade.

Their long-term strategy appears so fixed, in fact, that “only half of crypto investors knew that Bitcoin had declined in value over the past three months,” the poll says. Gender does not appear to be a highly significant factor in crypto ownership, with 60 percent of crypto ownership being among males. 

Those who are more concerned about inflation are more likely to own cryptocurrency, but not overwhelmingly, and in terms of political affinity, Democrats are more likely owners of cryptocurrencies than independents and Republicans. 

The pollsters at Verasight note that the party ID is likely affected by age differences among owners, as well as Democrats increasingly holding college degrees, factors they say may be skewing the results.

For those who don’t own crypto, 51 percent say they don’t understand it, 25 percent say they think they will lose money, 22 percent say they don’t know how or where to buy it, and 18 percent say they don’t know which cryptocurrencies to buy.  

While ownership of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum appears to have gone somewhat mainstream, 45 percent of Americans say they have never heard of or non-fungible tokens, known as NFTs. Of those who have heard of them, 60 percent say they have no interest in buying them. Today, only 11 percent of Americans own NFTs, and adoption is even low — 30 percent — among crypto holders.

To close out its poll, Verasight asked a series of question about the metaverse, referencing the concept not the Facebook revamp, and the results are striking: More than 40 percent of Americans younger than 50, the poll found, view interactions on the metaverse as equally meaningful as in-person interactions or even more meaningful. 

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The author is among the 21% of Americans who have owned cryptocurrencies.