Almost Half of Investors Plan to Invest in Crypto ETFs: Charles Schwab

A study titled “ETFs and Beyond,” released on Oct. 10 by investment giant Charles Schwab, revealed that almost half of the respondents said they plan to invest in crypto ETFs.

The survey of 2,200 investors, which was fielded from July 2nd to July 20, revealed that 45% of ETF investors were interested in crypto products. However, US equities remain the top investment choice, with 55% planning to invest in 2025.

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the results were “pretty stunning.”

Almost half of Schwab’s respondents said they plan to invest in crypto ETFs, more than bonds, international, alts. Pretty stunning. https://t.co/F9iV4ZGjxf pic.twitter.com/VnnoxioGIK

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 10, 2024

Millennials Big on Crypto

Meanwhile, ETF Store President Nate Geraci focused on another finding: 62% of those who planned to invest in crypto ETFs were millennials (aged 28 to 43). They show a higher tendency for risk and are more likely to invest based on their values and customized portfolios.

Around 44% were gen-X (approximately 44 to 59 years old) while boomers (around 60 to 78 years old) represented just 15% of the total. Geraci added that it was “wild” that Schwab has this data and still hasn’t launched spot crypto ETFs.

In September, Geraci said that crypto ETFs accounted for 13 of the 25 largest ETF launches in 2024 by year-to-date inflows. The increased interest in crypto ETFs coincides with the launch of US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded funds this year.

Schwab also reported that most ETF investors have stayed the course with their investments “despite a variety of market-driving events.”

Spot Crypto ETF Outlook

Despite the bullish survey signals, US Bitcoin ETFs continued to outflow this week. On Oct. 10, the 11 spot BTC ETFs saw an aggregate outflow of $81.1 million, marking the third consecutive day of outflows this week, according to preliminary data from Farside Investors.

Industry-leading BlackRock lost $10.8 million from its IBIT fund in a rare outflow day while Fidelity’s FBTC fund lost $33.8 million. Bitwise and Ark 21Shares also saw outflows while the rest were zero flows.

Conversely, spot Ethereum ETFs saw their largest inflow day for more than a week, with $10.1 million on Thursday. BlackRock’s ETHA fund had the majority with $17.8 million, but Fidelity and Bitwise saw outflows of $3.5 million and $4.2 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, spot crypto markets continue to retreat, having lost almost 3%, or more than $60 billion, since Monday.