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Coinbase and Fidelity Highlight Young Investors’ Growing Preference for Crypto
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong – Crypto leaders are renewing debates over the flaws of traditional finance, highlighting a generational shift toward blockchain and alternative assets.
Brian Armstrong: Traditional Finance Failing Young Investors
Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong recently criticized the traditional financial system in an X post, calling it “broken” and pointing to how it undermines investing opportunities, especially for younger generations. Armstrong explained that millennials and Gen Z feel excluded from traditional wealth-building pathways and are increasingly turning to crypto and other alternative assets to achieve financial growth.
Data from Coinbase supports his claim: around 73% of young adults find it more difficult to accumulate wealth via conventional means, and approximately 45% of younger investors hold crypto, compared to just 18% of older investors. Furthermore, about 30% of young investors plan to purchase a crypto ETF, nearly double the proportion among older generations. Armstrong emphasized that younger investors are also more willing to take risks, using margin almost twice as often and expecting higher returns, signaling strong bullish sentiment on crypto’s future role.
Fidelity CEO Agrees: Blockchain Transition Inevitable
Fidelity CEO Abigael Johnson echoed Armstrong’s views, describing the traditional system as “primitive” and suggesting that blockchain technology will eventually replace it. Johnson highlighted that competition and regulatory evolution will accelerate this transition. She stressed that merely adopting blockchain is insufficient—institutions must actively embrace new technologies to maintain market share.
Fidelity has already moved decisively into crypto: their FBTC ETF held roughly $20 billion in Bitcoin as of December, second only to BlackRock. The company also launched a tokenized money market fund compatible with stablecoins and a Solana ETF in mid-November, further integrating digital assets into traditional financial offerings.
Generational Shift and the Future of Finance
Armstrong and Johnson’s statements underscore a broader trend: younger investors are reshaping the financial landscape, favoring crypto, blockchain, and alternative assets over legacy systems. As major Wall Street players adopt digital strategies and new regulations emerge, the intersection of traditional finance and crypto appears poised for transformative change.
