SINGAPORE – More young and also older Singaporeans are buying into cryptocurrencies as the market picks up, a crypto index has found.

Crypto adoption among Generation Z, or those aged 18 to 25, has grown to 47 per cent in 2024 from 38 per cent in 2021. The take-up by boomers – those aged over 55 – has risen to 30 per cent from 19 per cent in the same period.

In contrast to Gen Z and boomers, both millennials, who are aged 26 to 45, and Gen X – those aged 46 to 55 – have been paring down their crypto ownership over the four-year period. The steepest decline was seen among those aged 26 to 35, who lowered their crypto holdings to 53 per cent in 2024, from 69 per cent in 2021.

The findings were released on March 28 by crypto exchange Independent Reserve Singapore. Conducted in February, its fourth annual survey of the public’s attitude towards digital assets polled around 1,500 Singapore residents aged 18 to 84.

The exchange’s Singapore chief executive Lasanka Perera said Gen Z investors are the youngest group among those polled, and they are digital natives who consume the most amount of information about digital assets.

The boomers, he said, have been more active, led by news of Bitcoin, Bitcoin halving and spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

“We’ve started to see investors who are in their 40s and older put in more deposits and make bigger crypto investments, particularly into Bitcoin.”

The price of Bitcoin has been climbing since the start of 2024, peaking at over US$70,000 in mid-March, buoyed by United States approval in January of spot Bitcoin ETFs and expectations of a halving in April. Bitcoin halving refers to the process that reduces the supply of new bitcoins about every four years. The idea was to counter inflation by maintaining scarcity.

The approval in the US of spot Bitcoin ETFs has led to a more positive view of Bitcoin here, with 39 per cent of all polled saying they have a more favourable view than before the approval.

Of all respondents, 60 per cent are non-crypto owners.

One in four non-crypto owners expressed a more positive perception of Bitcoin.

About 21 per cent of all respondents had unchanged views and remained positive on Bitcoin, the survey said.

A majority of those polled (75 per cent) prefer to invest in Bitcoin directly through an exchange.

Almost half (48 per cent) of the crypto investors say they will continue to double down on Bitcoin in the next 12 months, while a quarter of crypto investors say they will hedge their risks and maintain a diversified portfolio.

Despite the growing interest in Bitcoin, Singaporeans’ general awareness of crypto has dipped slightly to 89 per cent in 2024 from 91 per cent a year ago.

“It’s surprising that awareness has gone down, given that regulations are in place and the market is going up,” said Mr Dennis Graham, the exchange’s group marketing director.

“That said, Singapore is still well ahead of many other countries in terms of awareness and adoption.”

The poll also found that Singaporean investors are more sophisticated on various fronts.

More than half of the crypto owners surveyed (52 per cent) have been in the market for over three years and hold increasingly diverse portfolios.

In 2024, 16 per cent of the crypto owners polled are holding six or more different cryptocurrencies. This is up from 5 per cent in 2023.

More than half of the crypto owners (52 per cent) also say they invest in crypto to diversify their portfolio.

Singaporeans have displayed a healthy appetite for crypto investments so far, the index said.

It added: “For their very first crypto purchase, 65 per cent invested more than $500, and 41 per cent of current crypto investors still put in at least $500 a month towards their crypto portfolio.”

Despite being impacted by the rising interest rates and cost of living, 29 per cent of crypto owners said they would hold and/or increase their crypto allocation. Another 37 per cent of crypto owners – those not impacted by rising costs – also plan to hold or add to their crypto.

Boomers, in particular, are very bullish about crypto. A quarter of them said they will hold or increase their crypto allocations despite cost-of-living pressures. The survey said boomers’ financial stability and reduced financial obligations are possible reasons for this.

About 16 per cent of crypto owners say they plan to sell a portion of their crypto assets to help with cost pressures, while 6 per cent plan to liquidate their entire crypto portfolio to cope with the financial strains.

Founded in 2013, Independent Reserve has offices in Singapore and Australia. It is the first exchange to be granted a licence in Singapore.