The generation gap in investing can cause problems for wealth managers, said Spectrem President, CNBC survey partner.

2021 has proven to be the year of crypto adoption, with institutional crypto investments and millennial millionaires making the headlines.

A new CNBC survey found that the majority of Millennial Millionaires have a significant portion of their portfolios invested in crypto and plan to continue investing in crypto through 2022. The survey polled investors with assets of $ 1 million or more and 83% of millennial millionaires respondents said they had invested in crypto.

53% of all survey participants stated that they hold 50% or more of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies. Almost a third of those surveyed have invested at least three quarters of their wealth in crypto assets. While the survey results may come as a surprise to many, those who have watched the crypto boom in 2021 will know how a generation of TikTok investors made their millions investing in meme currencies.

The CNBC survey also found a large generational gap in investing. On the one hand, the younger generation invests up to 50% of their wealth in cryptocurrencies, while on the other hand only 4% of the older generation have invested in digital assets and only 1/4 of the GenX owns electronic money.

George Walper, president of Spectrem Group, which conducted the survey for CNBC, said the new generation’s growing interest in the nascent crypto market could pose a problem for regulators. He believes these traditional managers need to rethink their approach to these emerging investors. He explained:

“I’m not sure the wealth management industry has realized that they need to view these generations as entirely different generations. Most companies hoped to do without it. But millennial millionaires won’t just outgrow crypto. ”

The survey also shows how the new generation is ready to take more risks with cryptocurrencies instead of investing in traditional markets. The survey found that 48% of Millennial Millionaires plan to increase their crypto investments, while 38% plan to hold their crypto exposure and only 6% plan to reduce their crypto exposure.

In addition to the surge in US crypto millionaires, Australia has also seen crypto adoption growth of 10% over the past year. The Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index (IRCI) 2021, which polled 2,000 people, shows that Australians’ crypto investments have increased to 28.8%, up from 18.4% in 2020.