What You Need to Know
- Forty-five percent of cryptocurrency owners donated $1,000 or more to charity in 2020, vs. 33% of the full investor population.
- And 88% of millennials consider charitable giving an important part of their lives, vs. 74% of the total population.
- Donors have given $158 million in cryptocurrency assets to donor-advised funds at Fidelity Charitable this year, up 464% from 2020.
What does the growing awareness and adoption of cryptocurrency among investors portend for charitable giving?
Possibly good news, according to a study released Thursday by Fidelity Charitable.
Forty-five percent of owners of cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum and Bitcoin, donated $1,000 or more to charity in 2020, compared with 33% of the full investor population.
The study suggested that cryptocurrency’s popularity among millennials makes it increasingly likely that this trend is here to stay. Forty-eight percent of millennials said they are knowledgeable about cryptocurrency, compared with just 18% of all investors.
Thirty-five percent of young investors own cryptocurrency, versus 13% of all investors, and among millennials who do not, half say they are likely to consider investing in digital assets in the next year.
Forty-seven percent of millennials also believe that cryptocurrency is a smart investment, compared with only 6% of baby boomers.
Besides their disproportionate interest in cryptocurrency, 88% of millennials said charitable giving is an important part of their lives, compared with 74% of the total population. Similarly, three-quarters of millennials consider themselves philanthropists, versus 45% of the total population.
“As investors — particularly millennials — combine their interest in digital currency with their charitable values, digital assets have the potential to become a significant source of funding for philanthropy,” Tony Oommen, a Fidelity Charitable vice president, said in a statement.
Oommen noted that donors have already contributed $158 million in cryptocurrency assets to their donor-advised funds at Fidelity Charitable this year, up 464% from 2020.