Cryptocurrency is still a favorite amongst millennials, according to a study by Deidre Campbell, Global Chair of Financial Services at Edelman, who reports that they prefer a long-term investment. “Anyone that has crypto tells me they wish they bought it sooner,” said Campbell, whose study discovered more than 25 percent of millennials already use or hold digital assets. The survey also showed that 30 percent of the respondents said they had an interest in researching cryptocurrencies with the intent to invest in the short-term, while more than 55 percent of millennials already invest or plan to invest in the asset class.
Millennials tend to not trust banks, mainly due to inefficient systems and outdated models that are not fit to young investors who already carry financial pressure from student loans. When crypto was still on the low in 2015 and millennials were unaware of alternatives to banking systems,a study conducted by Harvard University’s Institute of Politics discovered that only 14 percent of millennials believe that Wall Street “does the right thing” for customers. With the study being released, Recon Capital Partners CEO Kevin Kelly stated that this new trend could create challenges for banks and financial institutions in Wall Street.
“This could definitely be a problem for Wall Street. We haven’t seen Wall Street change since the financial crisis. Every day, we’re starting to see headlines still: Wall Street does it again, another Wall Street faux pas,” Kelly explained.
Three years later, cashless alternatives such as fintech applications and crypto became increasingly popular amongst millennials. In China, AliPay, the fintech platform of Alibaba valued at more than $150 billion, began accounting for more than 80 percent of all domestic online transactions, CCN reports.
Fintech applications appeal to millions of users in areas with no practical banking systems. For example, in the Philippines major banks require both residents and citizens to store more than $2,000 as a fixed balance in bank accounts, prohibiting quite a large portion of the country from utilizing banking services. With this, companies such as Lhuiller and Palawan have become the main financial service providers of day-to-day users. In addition, the popularity of crypto also increased dramatically as digital assets enable users to send and receive payment with mobile phones without relying on banks.
Coins.ph, the largest cryptocurrency trading and remittance platform in the Philippines, secured more than 5 million users in the Philippines alone, while millions of users in Thailand and Malaysia actively use the service to send and receive cryptocurrencies.
“Customers use Coin.ph’s apps to access financial services such as cross-border remittances, purchasing digital currencies, topping up their beep stored value card, paying bills and buying ‘load’ (mobile promotional networks) – all without requiring a bank account,” CCN reported in June.
