The Over-55s Just Overtook Gen Z in Crypto Ownership in the US. South Africa Hasn't Caught Up Yet.

18 May 2026 4 min read

For the first time in the history of crypto surveys, Americans over 55 own more cryptocurrency than Americans under 25. The National Cryptocurrency Association's 2026 State of Crypto Holders Report, conducted with The Harris Poll and surveying 10,000 holders, found that 67 million Americans now own digital assets — one in four adults. But the headline statistic isn't the total number. It's who's buying. Baby Boomers made up 13% of new crypto adopters in the past year — up from barely 1% in the years before. More Americans over 55 now hold crypto than Americans under 25. The NCA's vice president called the finding "absolutely shocking." The generation that was supposed to "never get it" just became one of the fastest-growing segments of the market.

Key takeaways:

The demographic reversal happened in a single year. The over-55 cohort overtook under-25s in crypto ownership within twelve months. The catalyst was infrastructure: spot Bitcoin ETFs gave older investors a familiar product, and Schwab's launch of direct crypto trading in May 2026 removed the last friction. When you make crypto look like a normal investment, normal investors show up.
The over-55 demographic controls most of the money. US households headed by someone 55 or older hold approximately 73% of total household net worth. When this cohort moved into stocks, it reshaped equity markets. When they moved into real estate, same thing. A 2% crypto allocation from this demographic alone would dwarf the total inflows from younger investors over the past decade.
Crypto's gender gap is closing at the same time. Among new adopters in 2025–2026, 42% are women — up from 34% previously. The "typical" crypto holder is no longer a 28-year-old male software engineer. Increasingly, it's a 57-year-old woman with a retirement account and a financial advisor.
South Africa's older investors haven't arrived yet. 83% of SA crypto owners are between 18 and 44. Only 7% are over 55. Discovery Bank has made early moves into crypto, but no major stockbroker integrates crypto alongside retirement annuities and unit trusts in a single portfolio view. The on-ramp for younger investors exists — exchanges like Cape Crypto provide that. But the bridge for the older, wealthier demographic is still being built. And that's where the real capital sits.

Why the Old Money Matters More Than the New

The crypto industry has spent a decade trying to onboard young people. The marketing, the UX, the memes, the language — all of it was built for digital natives. And it worked: crypto became a cultural phenomenon among millennials and Gen Z.

But cultural adoption and capital deployment are different things. A 22-year-old putting $500 into Bitcoin from a part-time job is adoption. A 60-year-old moving 3% of a $2 million retirement portfolio into Bitcoin through Schwab is $60,000 of new capital from a single account. Multiply that across the 73% of US household wealth controlled by over-55s, and the numbers become staggering.

This is why Schwab's entry matters more than any exchange listing or airdrop. Schwab didn't build for crypto natives. It built for people who already have money and just needed a familiar doorway. The NCA report confirms that strategy is working.

What This Means for South Africa

South Africa's crypto market looks nothing like this. According to Triple-A data, 83% of South African crypto owners are between 18 and 44. Only 7% are 55 or older. SA's crypto market is overwhelmingly young.

That means South Africa hasn't yet experienced the wave that's reshaping the US market. The older, wealthier demographic — the one that controls the largest share of investable assets — hasn't arrived yet. And it won't arrive until the infrastructure makes it easy for them.

In the US, the path was clear: ETFs gave older investors a product they understood, then Schwab and Fidelity gave them a platform they already used. In South Africa, that path doesn't exist yet. Discovery Bank has started offering crypto, but no major stockbroker integrates it into a unified portfolio view. The on-ramp for younger, tech-savvy South Africans is already built — exchanges like Cape Crypto provide that. But the on-ramp for older investors who want crypto to sit alongside their retirement annuity and unit trusts? That infrastructure is still waiting to be built.

The NCA report tells us what happens when you build it: the money follows. And it follows at scale, because the people who arrive late to crypto aren't putting in pocket money. They're putting in retirement savings.

The 90% Statistic

One more number from the NCA report worth noting: 90% of US crypto holders earn less than $500,000 a year. Nearly a quarter earn $75,000 or less. This isn't a rich person's hobby. It's a middle-class financial tool.

In South Africa, the parallel is even more striking. Seventy-seven percent of SA crypto owners earn R450,000 or less per year. Crypto adoption in South Africa is driven overwhelmingly by low-to-middle-income earners — people using it as a practical financial instrument, not a speculative toy.

The demographic data from the US and South Africa tell a consistent story: crypto adoption starts young and relatively poor, then matures to include older and wealthier participants as the infrastructure catches up. The US is now in that second phase. South Africa is still in the first. The question is whether the local financial industry will build the bridges that bring older investors in — or whether it will leave that opportunity on the table.

Sources:

Leon Kowalski