That gap is the real story, and it's a more reassuring one than the headlines usually let on. It's a pattern that holds even for headline-grabbing assets; you can watch the trump coin price swing day to day, yet most owners still park it rather than spend it.
The figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, which questioned nearly 13,000 adults in October 2025. We're working from one of the most carefully built household datasets in the country. Let's walk through what it shows, why people came back to crypto last year, and who's sitting in the room.
The 9% Who Buy and Hold
Overall, 10% of US adults used or held crypto in 2025, up from 7% the year before and the highest share since 2022.
But look closer at what those people are doing. About 9% bought or held it as an investment, 2% used it for purchases or payments, and just 1% used it to send money to friends or family. Investment isn't one use case among many; it's the whole ballgame.
That reframes a lot. A rising adoption figure sounds like a nation warming up to spending digital coins at the checkout. The data says something calmer and, honestly, more sensible: it's a growing group of people buying a slice of something and then leaving it alone. The word 'currency' is doing far less work than the name suggests.
Why the Comeback Wore a Suit
So what pulled people back in during 2025, after the post-FTX slump dragged participation down?
Not new wallets or clever apps. The Fed links the rebound directly to spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, which gave everyday investors a brokerage-friendly on-ramp. In plain terms, people met crypto inside the accounts they already trusted, the same place they hold shares and retirement funds.
The technology got closer by looking more like everything else around it.
Established exchanges played their part too. Platforms such as Binance made first purchases simpler, so you could buy a small amount, watch it, and hold it without feeling lost. That ease feeds the buy-and-hold habit rather than daily spending.
Worth remembering, though: participation still sits below the 12% peak of 2021. The comeback is real, but it's measured, not a stampede.
Who's in the Room
If you're picturing the typical holder, the data has a clear shape for you.
Crypto use is concentrated among adults under 45 and households earning above the national median, a pattern that's held since the Fed first started asking in 2021. It's younger, and it skews toward people with a bit of financial breathing room.
And the payments story? It keeps shrinking. A Kansas City Fed briefing found that the share of US consumers using crypto for payments has stayed below 3% since 2021 and dropped to under 2% in 2023 and 2024. As the briefing put it, that share 'has been very small and has declined slightly in recent years... from nearly 3 percent to less than 2 percent in recent years'. Even that thin sliver is often driven by merchants who prefer it, rather than shoppers choosing it.
A few things worth holding onto from all this:
- 10% of US adults used or held crypto in 2025, up from 7% in 2024
- 9% held it as an investment; only 2% used it for payments and 1% for sending money
- Payment use has fallen below 2%, down from nearly 3% at its 2021 peak
- Unbanked adults used crypto for transactions at 6%, versus 2% of banked adults
That last point is the interesting one. For a small group without a bank account, crypto is doing genuine transactional work. For everyone else, it's savings. So if the youngest, best-connected buyers still treat crypto as something to hold rather than hand over, what would it really take to make it feel like money?
Platforms such as Binance publish beginner guides and learning hubs, part of why newer, cautious holders can research first and commit second, which only reinforces that investment-first instinct.
The Case for Patience
The US crypto story reads differently than the marketing suggests. It isn't a payments revolution that stalled; it's a savings habit that stuck, and people are using it with a level head.
Whether the balance ever tips toward spending depends less on price charts and more on how deeply ETFs, stablecoins and clear rules settle into the finance we already use. As access keeps widening through brokerages and exchanges like Binance, the on-ramp gets gentler; the destination, for now, stays the savings pile.
Maybe the healthiest sign for crypto in America isn't people rushing to spend it. It's a whole generation choosing not to.