They are tech savvy; They distrust the establishment; They are open to different ways of doing things; They are about to become $7T richer.
The Millennials are about to become the richest generation the world has ever seen.
Combine all of this and you have a recipe for disaster if you are the establishment. For those who are already involving themselves in cryptocurrency, this is a very good sign.
Millennials are described as those who were born between 1981-1996. They are presently 23-38 years old meaning they are entering positions of power. However, that is not what is going to cause the "Greatest Wealth Transfer" in history.
The Baby Boomers, those born between 1946-1962, were about one thing: money. They were the largest generation in history and they amassed a fortune. Trillions of dollars is in their possession which is ready to be passed on to ensuing generations.
Over the next decade, this group of Millennials will see a 5X increase in their holdings.
As we can see, they will cross the Baby Boomers in wealth by about 2025 and Gen X by roughly 2029.
This opens the door for a completely different world. Millennials do not think like everyone else. They were raised in a time of tremendous economic turmoil, especially in the United States. They older ones went through the dotcom boom followed by the ensuing collapse. This was immediately followed by 9/11 which had a profound impact. Finally, less than a decade later. millions saw their parents lose their homes as the banks foreclosed on them.
They are also the Internet Generation meaning they are less likely to get their news from the traditional services. The ability to question never was greater.
All this amounts to a great deal of distrust. At the core of this is the banking system. When you have people with that much money, they have two choices: spend or save it. Traditional banking and its associated services simply are not thought of in the same light as previous generations.
We are already seeing a shift in the ownership rates of Bitcoin. Looking at this chart, we can see, at least in percentage terms, who is involved.
We can see the distrust summed up here:
This inherent distrust for institutions sets the stage for a new way of investing. According to a survey from eToro, Millennials trust cryptocurrency as an asset—at least, more than they do the stock market run by traditional Wall Street. The survey, commissioned by the independent research firm Provoke Insights, asked 1,000 online investors in the U.S., ages 20 through 65, about stock exchanges, cryptocurrency exchanges, and 401(k)s. Forty-three percent of millennial respondents said they trusted cryptocurrency exchanges more than U.S. stock exchanges.
Putting trust aside, a portion of Millennials are currently making use of cryptocurrencies and more will likely follow in the future. A quarter (25%) of American Millennials, aged between 24 and 38, and earning $100,000 in individual or joint income, or owning $50,000 in investable assets, are either holding or using cryptocurrencies (source). Another 31% are interested in using cryptocurrencies. Lending the most support, a study was performed by Blockchain Capital which found that 9% of the population owns Bitcoin — including 18% of those aged 18–34 (source). Millennials are already opting for a system based on math and code versus that of legacy institutions. This margin almost doubles if not triples that of older generations.
https://rhythmofbitcoin.substack.com/p/bitcoin-and-the-great-wealth-transfer
A large number of tech savvy individuals who are not afraid of adopting something completely different are about to come into a whole lot of money. Each day, the older generation is passing on, leaving their wealth behind. The Millennials are set to benefit from this trend over the next decade+, putting their collective wealth at levels never seen before.
Along these same lines, this group is perfectly willing to change. They are not tied to a particular form of social networking just because that is what they are presently using. This is the Change Generation when it comes to technology. If there is a mousetrap they prefer, a switch will be made.
This is where cryptocurrency could really benefit. These individuals are more apt to get involved and be rewarded in cryptocurrency as opposed to the older generations. Since many of the Baby Boomers still struggle with computers, it only makes sense that a fair portion of them will be negated from this opportunity. Generation X is a bit better but still not as savvy as the generation behind them.
The following chart shows the percentages and how the Millennials, even if the averages hold, will fare much better.
So what does this all mean?
To me, it says that success is going to come from those projects that can attract the younger generation. Blockchains that focusing upon switching over the "establishment" (i.e. older generations) will struggle. The numbers and opportunity rests with the Millennials.
This means catering outside the norm. Gaming is huge with this group. eSports are becoming extremely popular and it is not the Boomers or GenX pushing it. DeFi needs to be set up to focus upon the needs of this group as opposed to that of the older generations. Hence, traditional investment vehicles will not be attractive to them. Finally, it is imperative to think "digital" as opposed to physical. It is something this generation understands.
It is this group that is leading the charge into the next leg of digitization. They will be the ones embracing things such as 3D printing, extended reality, and synthetic biology. All of this amounts to a different way of operating in our daily lives.
Cryptocurrency and blockchain are two core pieces in this shift. It is something that the Millennials are already picking up on.
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