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The younger you are, the more you trust crypto, and a new survey puts numbers to just how wide that gap has become.
When asked how much they trust crypto platforms, 40% of Gen Z and 41% of Millennials gave high scores, according to an OKX sponsored survey of 1,000 Americans conducted this month. Among Baby Boomers, that figure was just 9%. Younger generations trust crypto platforms five times more than their parents and grandparents do.
This would be a cultural footnote if trillions of dollars weren’t about to change hands, and if crypto’s revenue story hadn’t already shifted. The Great Wealth Transfer (the largest intergenerational shift of assets in history) is now underway. Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation will pass down $84 trillion through 2045, according to Cerulli Associates. Gen Z stands to inherit $15 trillion. Millennials will receive $46 trillion.
The money is moving from skeptics to believers.
The Trust Inversion
The generational divide runs deeper than crypto enthusiasm. It’s a split in how Americans relate to financial institutions.
Among Boomers, 74% assign high trust scores to traditional banks, roughly eight times more than they give crypto platforms. But among Gen Z and Millennials, about one in five express low trust in banks altogether. The institutions their parents rely on look less like safe harbors and more like obstacles.
“The generational trust gap is not a barrier,” OKX wrote in its survey analysis. “It is a signal.”
A Different Playbook
The attitude gap extends to how different generations actually invest.
A Bank of America Private Bank study of wealthy Americans found a notable belief gap. Among investors aged 21-43, 72% believe it’s no longer possible to achieve above-average returns with just stocks and bonds. Among investors over 44, only 28% share that view.
Young wealthy investors are acting on that belief. They allocate 14% of their portfolios to cryptocurrency, compared to just 1% for older investors. They put 17% into alternative assets versus 5% for the 44-plus crowd. And 93% plan to increase their alternative allocations further.
This skepticism toward traditional portfolios has real consequences. Half of young wealthy investors have either switched or are considering switching financial advisors because their current advisors won’t engage with crypto, according to previous reporting. The advisors who built their practices serving Boomers now face clients who want something different.
Momentum In One Direction
The trust gap isn’t static, it’s widening.
Among Gen Z, 36% said their trust in crypto platforms had increased over the past year. For Millennials, 34% reported growing confidence. Among Boomers, only 6% felt more trusting, while 49% said their views hadn’t changed at all.
The trading intentions follow the same pattern. Forty percent of Gen Z plan to increase their crypto trading in 2026, compared to just 11% of Boomers. Young investors are nearly four times more bullish.
Different Problems, Different Solutions
The sharpest divide is philosophical. When OKX asked what problems crypto solves better than traditional finance, nearly half of Boomers answered “none.” Among Gen Z, only 6% agreed.
Younger respondents pointed to 24/7 accessibility and borderless transfers that traditional banking systems can’t match. They see crypto solving real problems. Their grandparents see a solution looking for a problem.
The generations also disagree on what makes a platform trustworthy. For Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X, platform security tops the list, cited by 50% to 59% of respondents. For Boomers, regulation and legal protection matter most, named by 65% as their top concern.
Over half of Gen Z and Millennials believe crypto will eventually rival or surpass traditional finance. Among Boomers, 71% remain convinced that banks will stay the primary pillar of the financial system.
What Happens Next
When $84 trillion transfers from a generation that trusts banks eight times more than crypto to generations where that ratio inverts, the flows will follow. The portfolios being inherited are heavy in stocks and bonds. The heirs receiving them have different plans.
The future of finance might be more an outcome of demographics than debate.
