Federal Reserve Survey: An Estimated 18 Million Americans Used or Owned Cryptocurrency Last Year

PANews reported on May 23 that, according to Cointelegraph, the latest annual household survey by the Federal Reserve shows that the number of American adults who reported owning or using cryptocurrency last year dropped to about 18 million. In the 12 months ending last October, 7% of surveyed American adults said they had used cryptocurrency, down from 10% in 2022 and 12% in 2021. Only 1% of adults said they used cryptocurrency for payments or remittances, half of the 2022 figure, while 7% bought or held cryptocurrency as an investment.

The Federal Reserve's results are far below the claims long touted by Coinbase in its lobbying efforts, which state that one-fifth (or 52 million Americans) own cryptocurrency. Coinbase did not respond to requests for comment on how it arrived at this figure.

The survey was conducted in October 2023, with a total of 11,488 American adults aged 18 and over participating. The Federal Reserve weighted the sample based on the 258 million adults from the U.S. Census Bureau's Current Population Survey as of March 2023.