More than 40% of Australian Gen Z and Millennials say they regret not investing in cryptocurrencies 10 years ago, new research from Australian crypto broker Swyftx suggests they believe cryptocurrencies are one of the biggest missed opportunities of the past decade.
The study, conducted by YouGov and released on Thursday, surveyed 3,009 people and found that almost half of those under 35 regret missing out on the crypto boat.
This was followed by regrets about not buying real estate and buying stocks in big tech companies like Apple and Amazon.
According to Swyftx, some of the FOMO is likely due to structural purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) by corporations, governments, and US pension funds.
In 2015, Bitcoin hovered between $172 and $465 at the end of a bear market. It has since risen 23,019% and was trading at $107,505 on Thursday.
Cryptocurrency as a solution to the housing crisis
A Swyftx spokesperson told Cointelegraph that many young people currently feel excluded from the real estate market and believe that cryptocurrencies could provide them with an opportunity to buy a home.
According to Australian Property Investors Magazine, Australia ranks as the sixth most expensive property market in the world, behind Switzerland, South Korea, Luxembourg, Austria and Norway.
“The lack of housing affordability on this scale is a predicament that no other generation has faced, and cryptocurrencies are seen as an opportunity to move forward.”
“Many young investors want high-beta assets in their portfolios, and the data we have shows that they generally understand the asset class fairly well,” the spokesperson added.
Overall, 80% of Australians under the age of 50 said they regretted an investment choice they made in the past 10 years.
Young Australians switch to cryptocurrencies over stocks
The gap between young investors planning to buy stocks and young investors wanting to buy cryptocurrencies has also been halved from 2022 onwards.
Jason Titman, CEO of Swyftx, said in a report that data suggests that young individual investors in the country are as likely to buy Bitcoin as regular stocks within two years, but that momentum will depend on putting the right investor protections in place.
A Swyftx spokesperson said regulation in Australia and other markets was likely to be key to triggering a “big bang of investment”.
“The data we have is consistent and shows that millions more investors will enter the market once the market is regulated,” the spokesperson said.
“We are already seeing the halo effect of regulatory certainty in the US, where large banks like Morgan Stanley have entered the market.”
Related: Despite years of advances in cryptocurrencies, Australians still feel ‘friction’ with banks
In March, the Australian government, controlled by the centre-left Labor Party, proposed a new cryptocurrency framework that would regulate exchanges under existing financial services laws.
Gen Z supplements their income with cryptocurrencies
Generation Z (people born between 1996 and 2010 and ages 29 to 15) also report using cryptocurrencies as a means to supplement their income.
This age group also reported the highest profits, with 82% of investors making profits averaging $9,958.
Overall, 78% of Australian crypto users report profiting from their trading activity in the last year.
“We know that our Gen Z customers have longer investment horizons and are less concerned about the annualized volatility of Bitcoin and other crypto assets,” a Swyftx spokesperson said.
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