The largest Australian crypto exchange, BTC Markets, has seen a significant increase in older customers using its platform in the past fiscal year. Crypto is extremely popular among Baby Boomers this year, the exchange says.
Baby boomers are buying cryptocurrencies en masse
According to data from one of the country’s largest exchanges, more and more elderly Australians are seeing cryptocurrencies as a good investment. In the annual Investor Report, BTC Markets reported a 15% increase in the number of investors over the age of 65. They are also the group making the largest cash deposits this year.
Baby boomers, which are people born between 1946 and 1964, are now 5% of the platform’s 325,000 customers.
Caroline Bowler, CEO of BTC Markets, stated that the number of young male traders is slowly losing ground to other populations. Especially since the growth rate of the baby boomers was the second highest after the age group of 18 to 24 years. More than a quarter of the exchange’s clients are investors over the age of 44 and they have more money to invest.
Boomers deposit highest amounts
The platform also reported that the over-65s deposited by far the most money with an average amount of $3,200 and they have an average portfolio size of $3,700.
Bowler says low interest rates are a major factor behind boomers looking for alternative investments such as crypto assets. She tells:
“These baby boomers often find themselves at a time in their lives when they have accumulated significant wealth and have many years of experience investing in financial markets. They are not concerned about allocating a small percentage of their wallets to cryptocurrencies.”
Younger traders in the Generation Z category aged 18 to 24 had much smaller initial deposits and crypto portfolios, about a quarter of their senior counterparts.
The exchange surveyed 1,800 customers to determine their motives for investing in crypto. It found that 34% of those surveyed wanted to retire early, 28% cited diversification of their investment portfolio as the reason, and 23% feared missing out (FOMO).