Digital currencies: One in eight adults in Germany holds cryptocurrencies

Almost nine million people in Germany aged 18 and over currently own cryptocurrencies. This corresponds to a share of 12.8 percent of the adult population, according to a representative survey conducted by the opinion institute YouGov on behalf of the management and technology consulting firm BearingPoint. 4.9 percent of those surveyed have owned Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies in the past but have already exited the market.

Furthermore, there is potential of 11.4 percent (around 7.9 million people) who do not yet hold digital currencies but can imagine buying them. However, the vast majority of adults in Germany view the digital asset class with distance: 67.4 percent do not own cryptocurrencies and categorically rule this out for the future. Crypto owners are on average male and young.

The differences between genders and age groups are particularly pronounced. While 18.8 percent of men hold digital coins in their portfolio, the rate is only 7.2 percent for women. Among 25- to 34-year-olds, almost a third (28.4 percent) owns cryptocurrencies, while the asset class hardly plays a role for the generation aged 55 and over.

Among active crypto investors in Germany, Bitcoin remains the undisputed market leader: three-quarters of owners (74.6 percent) hold shares of the original cryptocurrency in their portfolio. Ethereum follows in a clear second place (33.1 percent), while just over a fifth of investors bet on Solana (22.7 percent). XRP (18.1 percent), Cardano (13.6 percent), and the most well-known meme coin Dogecoin (13.0 percent) also each reach double-digit percentage values.

In the overall population, there is a clear risk awareness: almost a third of those surveyed (32.7 percent) classify cryptocurrencies primarily as high-speculative products.