Survey: Majority of Millennials Are Hesitant About Bitcoin and the Stock Market

A newly published Goldman Sachs survey revealed gripping statistics behind US millennials and their views on bitcoin, investing, and payments security.

With a 3.5 percent margin error, the research provides accurate insights on how the financial space is changing to suit the needs and preferences of the 18-34 age group.

“Millennials will become the most important financial generation in America and the industry will have to adapt to meet their needs,” Goldman Sachs analysts Conor Fitzgerald and Sarah Cha mentioned in the survey.

Results from the research showed that nearly half of the respondents (51 percent out of the 752 participants) have not used bitcoin, and do not have any future plans to try the virtual currency. In the same category, 22 percent indicated they have used bitcoin and will likely engage in such transactions again.

Another 22 percent have never used the digital payments medium, but are open to giving it a try. Surprisingly, five percent used bitcoin previously and have no intentions on using it in the future.

Security surrounding digital wallets may have played an influential role in the participants’ views towards new payments services. Less than five percent of the survey respondents mentioned they do not trust wallet services, such as Coinbase and BitPay.

When it comes to trust in payments facilities, Apple Pay, Square, bitcoin wallets and credit cards all scored poorly.

Views on traditional investing options such as the stock market have also changed compared to the previous baby boomer generation. Most millennials distrust stock investments, largely due to significant fluctuations that occurred in the past decade.

Furthermore, new lucrative investment methods, including high-risk frequency trading, dark pools and “spoofing,” have contributed to the apprehension that the group has on growing their hard-earned savings.