Even after strong support from US President Donald Trump and easier crypto rules, many Americans are still not investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a new report by the Urban Institute. The report found that only 17% of American adults have ever owned cryptocurrency, while only 9% currently own it, meaning nearly half of those who once invested in crypto have already left the market.
Market Context
The Urban Institute based its findings on a survey of more than 3,000 adults conducted in January, making it one of the latest studies on cryptocurrency ownership in the US. The report comes at a time when cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin have become much easier for ordinary people to buy through investment products such as exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
President Donald Trump has openly promoted cryptocurrency and promised to make the United States the “crypto capital of the planet.” Trump’s support helped push Bitcoin’s price to record highs in 2025, but the rise in price did not lead to a major increase in new investors, according to USA Today. Since reaching those highs, Bitcoin has lost roughly half of its value, making many investors cautious about entering the market.
“There’s not a big wave of new crypto investors,” said Alex Carchidi, contributing cryptocurrency analyst at The Motley Fool. He added, “And in fact, many of the professional crypto investors … have been leaving the market or hibernating in some way since the market collapsed in October”, as noted by USA Today.
Another major study by the US Federal Reserve also shows that cryptocurrency remains a small part of investing in America. The Federal Reserve’s latest report, released in May, found that 10% of American adults used cryptocurrency in 2025. According to the Fed, crypto use may have reached its highest point in 2021, when 12% of Americans bought, sold, held or used cryptocurrency. By comparison, around 62% of Americans own stocks, showing that traditional investing is still much more common than crypto investing.
Experts say cryptocurrencies are still viewed as a special type of investment rather than something for everyone. “People still view it as a more specialized asset class,” said Amy Arnott, a portfolio strategist at Morningstar. She added, “And I think that volatility and these periodic huge declines are still probably keeping people away.”
Before 2024, people usually had to use special cryptocurrency exchanges if they wanted to buy digital currencies, making it harder for beginners to invest. That changed in January 2024, when US federal regulators approved spot Bitcoin ETFs, allowing investors to buy Bitcoin through regular stock market accounts, according to USA Today.
In 2025, President Trump signed an executive order supporting federal regulation for digital currencies and proposed creating a national cryptocurrency stockpile. Trump has continued supporting cryptocurrency while his family businesses also profit from the industry. According to The New York Times, Trump’s family businesses earned about $1.4 billion from crypto-related projects in 2025.
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Earlier this year, Trump’s Labor Department proposed a rule that would make it easier to include cryptocurrencies and other alternative investments in retirement plans. Many experts oppose adding crypto to retirement accounts because they believe it is too risky and difficult for many people to understand.
Experts say this big fall in Bitcoin’s price could be one of the main reasons many investors are leaving the crypto market. “By definition, that means that people are selling,” said Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia. He added, “And that likely means that people who may have experimented in buying it have decided that they don’t want to own it anymore, because they’ve seen the price crash.” Among people who still own crypto, 45% said they bought it to diversify their investments.
Another 37% said they invested because they are interested in new technology. Around 27% believe digital currencies are the future, according to the survey. About 8% of Americans said they once owned crypto but no longer do. Former crypto investors were more likely to say they invested mainly to make money rather than because they believed in the technology.
The survey also found that most current crypto investors have owned digital currencies for several years. Their investments are generally small, with about two-fifths owning less than $250 worth of cryptocurrency. The study found that most crypto investors are men, and Asian Americans are more likely to own crypto than other racial groups. The report also found that crypto investors are generally younger than the overall population. The Urban Institute recommends that banks, crypto exchanges and other providers should clearly explain the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.
Some investment experts also question whether crypto is a good way to diversify a portfolio because Bitcoin often falls when stock markets fall, reducing its value as a safe investment. “It’s also nearly impossible to pin down what its underlying value should be,” Arnott of Morningstar wrote in a 2025 post. She added, “For those reasons, a portfolio weighting of 5% or less seems prudent, and many investors may want to skip cryptocurrency altogether.”
Overall, the report suggests that Trump’s efforts to make cryptocurrency more popular have increased attention on Bitcoin, but they have not convinced most Americans to invest, largely because of price swings, uncertainty and the risk of losing money.
Source
“If you understand how crypto works, that’s OK,” said Luisa Godinez-Puig, senior research associate at the Urban Institute, according to USA Today. She added, “But for a lot of people, crypto is a bit of a mystery. It comes with a bit of a learning curve.” Bitcoin’s value has dropped sharply from around $125,000 in October 2025 to about $65,000 by late July 2026.
Many of these former investors said they stopped investing because they were losing money. “There are many investors who bought crypto over the last 15 years who were simply chasing price,” Silver said, according to Investopedia.
