Beware the crypto narratives
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Narratives have driven the cryptocurrency news cycle for years, and today's overriding theme is not in dispute — things are bad in crypto. Real bad.
Driving the news: But with a crash comes inevitable headlines of doom. And according to fresh data on the industry from a Morning Consult survey released today, crypto investors may be the least likely to agree with them.
Why it matters: The vast majority of people have never invested in crypto (83% of U.S. households).
- Those that have long predicted its demise are now taking a victory lap, but a deeper analysis of those that are invested in crypto may yield some surprises.
Quick take: Crypto users are actually quite optimistic.
- Overall consumer confidence is higher among crypto owners than the general population, according to Morning Consult’s Index of Consumer Sentiment (ICS).
- Even now, the ICS for cryptocurrency owners is 15 percentage points higher than it is for all U.S. adults.
Meanwhile, the recent crypto crash shouldn't be hailed as a victory for traditional finance.
- Crypto owners, in fact, use more financial services providers than the general population, Morning Consult found.
- "I do not trust the government and prefer unregulated payment methods," was actually the second least popular answer given by users when asked why they own it.
- The most popular answer: I want to make money.
Yes, but: It is true that Black, Hispanic and Asian people constitute a higher share of crypto investors than they do the total U.S. population. Yet the vast majority of crypto investors still tend to be wealthier, younger, white and male.
- Those are the same characteristics that correlate with higher consumer sentiment more generally, Morning Consult noted.
The bottom line: While things in crypto are undoubtedly bad, those in it seem to be among the least likely to predict its demise.
