Young men aren’t investing in 401(k)s — they’re banking on bitcoin - MarketWatch \ stacker news ~Stacker

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Young men aren’t investing in 401(k)s — they’re banking on bitcoin - MarketWatch www.marketwatch.com/story/young-men-arent-investing-in-a-401-k-for-retirement-theyre-banking-on-bitcoin-ead9d58c

297 sats \ 11 comments \ @Scoresby 8h Stacker_Stocks

There weren't any archive versions of this on archive.today, and the wayback machine hasn't crawled it, so I couldn't read the article. :(

However, the title and little bit above the fold are enough to make me feel warm and fuzzy for the youths.

One of my pet conspiracy theories in which I indulge is that they will impose a tax on withdrawal from tax-sheltered retirement accounts in the next twenty years. Seems I'm not the only one who is distrustful of the retirement tax structure.

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162 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 7h

Hmm, I was able to read it on my phone as a free article. But for some reason, I lost access and can't get it again. Oh well.

I did get to read the full article. Unfortunately, it spends most of its time saying that young men who engage in the manosphere, i.e. have negative views about feminism, distrust institutions, etc, are more likely to be invested in crypto because the manosphere influencers pump crypto investments and because they can't hold down steady jobs. It tries to present a neutral tone, but it strikes me as a "let's study these poor folks" article.

102 sats \ 8 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 4h

Free to read for me from laptop from New Zealand...maybe you get a few free articles before they charge?

'Young American men are betting big on crypto. Traditional retirement savings? Not so much.

A recent survey of 1,000 U.S. men 18-29 from YouGov and the Young Men Research Project (YMRP) — a research organization studying social and political trends among young American men — found that 26% of young men own cryptocurrency and 28% own any crypto-based asset — including currency, crypto-based ETFs, or both. That’s higher than the 21% percent who have a 401(k), Roth IRA or similar retirement fund. For context, 24% of young men hold individual stocks — trailing crypto ownership.

Among crypto holders, bitcoin

BTCUSD

-1.18% is the currency of choice — 53% report owning it, and 18% held ether

ETHUSD

-1.18% or Solana

SOLUSD

-0.76% . Less than one in five have invested in “memecoins” that can swing even more wildly in value.

Crypto’s distinct pull among young men is well-documented, but these results challenge common stereotypes. The typical caricature — reckless, lower-income gamblers chasing fast money — doesn’t exactly hold up.

Don’t miss: Bitcoin’s November crash was no accident

Higher-earning young men are more likely to possess both crypto and retirement accounts. Among those with family incomes of $100,000 or more, 42% own cryptocurrency and 33% have a retirement fund — roughly twice the rates of those earning under $60,000. Education tells a similar story: 39% of college-educated young men own cryptocurrency, compared with 23% of their non-college-educated peers.

Among part-time workers, 27% hold cryptocurrency while only 16% have a retirement account.

Full-time employees — those with greater access to employer-sponsored plans — have more balanced portfolios. Thirty-seven percent own cryptocurrency, the same share has retirement accounts and 34% hold individual stocks. Among part-time workers, however, 27% hold cryptocurrency while only 16% have a retirement account. This gap is a warning sign for the burgeoning gig economy, where workers trade stable employee benefits for more flexible schedules.

Nothing in the poll results suggests that young men are avoiding 401(k)s by choice. Almost half of full-time American workers lack access to any employer-sponsored retirement plan, and access is even more limited for young workers, who are more likely to hold part-time or unstable jobs. Even when a plan is available, a 401(k) plan places more risk on the individual than traditional defined-benefit pensions. Amid this financial uncertainty, it’s not surprising that young men are looking for alternative pathways to build wealth.

The results align with separate findings on the political leanings of crypto owners. YMRP data show that young men who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 were relatively more steeped in digital assets, with 41% owning cryptocurrency and 31% having retirement accounts. Among those who voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, the script flipped: 30% owned cryptocurrency, while 35% had retirement accounts. The Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance may have rewarded early buyers, as bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies surged earlier this year, yet major cryptocurrencies have since tumbled.

Beyond politics, crypto ownership also reflects deeper social attitudes. According to the same survey, young men who agreed with statements like “Feminism is about favoring women over men,” or “Society looks down on men who are more masculine” were more likely to own digital assets than those who disagreed. For instance, 32% of young men who agreed with the statement, “Men should bring in money and women should take care of the home and kids,” reported owning cryptocurrency, compared with 21% of those who disagreed.

YouTube, Reddit and Discord — all male-dominated social-media platforms — regularly promote crypto-based investment strategies.

Young men’s digital ecosystems help explain this appeal. Influencers on YouTube, Reddit

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+1.21% and Discord — all male-dominated social-media platforms — regularly promote crypto-based investment strategies, often under the guise of expertise, while their young male audiences exchange tips and tricks. For example, Reddit’s r/CryptoCurrency, one of many such communities, has 10 million users and close to 700,000 weekly visitors. Separate research has found strong links between the “manosphere” — online communities opposed to women’s rights that often promote traditionalist masculine ideals — and cryptocurrency involvement.

For many young men, crypto ownership reflects a broader pattern of speculative financial behavior rather than strategic investing. The same YMRP survey finds that crypto-owning young men gamble online at nearly three times the daily rate of nonowners — 20% versus 7% — and are more likely to hold NFTs, though overall ownership remains low.

These numbers are alarming. Less than half of full-time employed young American men have a retirement account, and the shift toward freelance and gig-based work could leave even more without one. Crypto, meanwhile, remains a volatile asset class without extensive regulation — an unstable substitute for traditional retirement security.

For plenty of Gen Z men, crypto is viewed as a way to get ahead in an unforgiving economy. For others, it’s a middle finger to established institutions. What’s clear is that this young generation is taking the road less traveled — one paved with significant risk.'

100 sats \ 6 replies \ @anon 4h

I've been buying Bitcoin for years but I don't match any of these stereotypes. I don't gamble, I'm not after 'fast money' and I'm not even male. I don't 'trade' either.

Nor am I interested in 'cryptocurrencies'... I am only interested in Bitcoin.

I have zero debt and am 'financially stable' and make well over "6 figures" (in US Dollars) and I have the 401k etc.

But Bitcoin is important to me because I see it as truth and a "check" on the traditional financial system which I believe is unsustainable and manipulated. Bitcoin is more transparent, more stable overall, and I believe something that will be widely used by our civilization in the decades to come.

There is a tremendous amount of change coming for the global financial system (hidden by the American media) as institutions lose confidence in the United States. They will look for an alternative reserve asset and Bitcoin is a great candidate.

102 sats \ 5 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 3h

Am of a similar position and viewpoint to you, but the article was specifically looking at younger men. The article does point out that better educated men are more inclined to buy Bitcoin- and that makes sense as only when you study and understand both Bitcoin and the current fiat debt based monetary- economic-political system does Bitcoin ownership really become an extremely compelling case. Have no trust in the legacy fiat debt based financial system and count myself very content to have shifted most of my liquid capital into Bitcoin self custody. Not 100% certain that Bitcoin will succeed, but believe we have to try - recognising the fiat operators are ruthless, cunning and determined...they have undermined our democracies, narratives and politics and Bitcoin provides a genuine potential way to fight back.

100 sats \ 4 replies \ @anon 3h

Thanks for your comment. The 'fiat operators' are their own worst enemy. I believe that many Europeans (even within the EU) plus many Asians (Japanese and Koreans) will eventually adopt Bitcoin because it is neutral and unconfiscatable. The Americans can't 'turn it off' and it is generally-speaking trivial to generate a seed phrase that no government can guess or confiscate.

I could choose the 'traditional financial path' but... I don't. It's not fast money it's better money and 'better property' that attracted me to Bitcoin in the first place.

What I cannot for the life of me understand is the defense of fiat... particularly by the 'financial experts'. The American national debt/deficit is totally unsustainable and the financial press loves to hate Bitcoin which... honestly I cannot understand.

Eventually the huge debts in Western countries (especially the US) will come due and the shortcomings of fiat will be painfully obvious. All the financial press does in the US is push denial "we're the best" the Chinese are "no competition for us" "we have tariffs" etc... all to make a quick buck or help investors feel "everything is fine". It's not.

Bitcoin will be there for people when they are ready and I think a shift is near-inevitable.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 3h

Have lately been thinking about how fiat apologists frequently assert Bitcoin does not produce anything- they are comparing to conventional investments like stocks or bonds and saying Bitcoin has no 'yield'. But my response would be that Bitcoin is not a stock or bond- it is money that has inherently superior SoV integrity to fiat which is constantly and deliberately debasing forcing you to buy 'yield' bearing things like stocks, bonds or property. So with Bitcoin as money you can hold your liquid capital and have it available for whenever any need or opportunity arises, free of any need to entrust it to third parties who may or may not honour their promises to grow its value. Secondly, as money Bitcoin potentially provides an essential public service - - remember when the GFC threatened to collapse the fiat monetary-financial system- if it had collapsed the scenario would be apocalyptic - but with Bitcoin you have an alternative monetary system, standing by, completely independent from fiat and open to all providing global, neutral, near instant final settlement and free of any entity corporate or political-nation state ability to obstruct transfers. That is a valuable public good infrastructure-insurance that exists and has proven and grown its strength, scaling (LN) and resilience. Bitcoins provision of this independent and neutral monetary system is of huge potential value and while nation states have sought to obstruct bitcoins use as a MoE to preserve their fiat monopoly Bitcoin is still capable of MoE, and as long as it remains capable of MoE it can provide one of the most valuable public services - the provision of money free of third party censorship and debasement. Most people seem so entrapped in the fiat debt paradigm they have forgotten what true freedom and integrity is. It looks a lot like Bitcoin!

100 sats \ 2 replies \ @anon 2h

Have lately been thinking about how fiat apologists frequently assert Bitcoin does not produce anything- they are comparing to conventional investments like stocks or bonds and saying Bitcoin has no 'yield'.

Wallstreet sure is obsessed with yield.

People buy real estate which is a... great 'investment.' And it doesn't have yield either but boy does it go up each year.

So with Bitcoin as money you can hold your liquid capital and have it available for whenever any need or opportunity arises, free of any need to entrust it to third parties who may or may not honour their promises to grow its value.

Imo Bitcoin is 'better money' but it is not perfect. Better and extremely interesting however if one gets really pedantic... reducing trust to "zero" is extremely difficult.

I would say the 'system' and network is vastly more trustworthy.

Secondly, as money Bitcoin potentially provides an essential public service...

Bitcoin is imo way more 'risk off' than Wall Street gives it credit for.

Bitcoins provision of this independent and neutral monetary system is of huge potential value and while nation states have sought to obstruct bitcoins use as a MoE

I think Bitcoin is more than a MoE... I think MoE exchange sells it short because it implies Bitcoin competes with dollars and other fiats. I think it does but it... doesn't. It offers and creates trust where fiat can't and I think that is way, way more valuable than simple MoE.

It would be like buying an ice cream cone with a treasury bond... or government bond. That's not normally... what someone would do although it is theoretically possible. The Bond's value is based on trust and risk-off-ness and that is Bitcoin the network's inherent strength.

My guess as to what Bitcoin becomes is the global risk-off reserve asset, the same way "we" look at US treasury bonds or AAA government bonds today. That way if an institution or organization or trust or individual doesn't know what else to buy... they will buy Bitcoin because of its qualities.

That means Bitcoin becomes the neutral, global reserve asset which I believe is its likely future.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Solomonsatoshi 1h

Bitcoin has already demonstrated its worth as a SoV- because people like you and me chose to use it to store our liquid capital, because it offered us a more attractive option than the state imposed fiat money and its debt leveraged risk based stocks, bonds and property derivatives.. But we must still mostly use fiat for everyday MoE, which leaves the fiat operators still with effective monopoly over everyday MoE. They can accept Bitcoin as a speculative commodity, taxed and tracked and traced, and increasingly custodied by them for a fee, but not as a MoE- because if Bitcoin is used as a MoE directly undermines their monopoly monetary power and their ability to control all commerce and trade and individuals involved in any commerce and to as a consequence extract rent from all participants by way of debasement and debt. For me, for Bitcoin to succeed fully it must remove the layer of wealth extraction currently taken by the fiat operators via debasement and the ability to sanction individuals or entities they wish to marginalise. As a reserve asset it does partially erode their monopoly but as a MoE it provides a fully competitive monetary market where fiat can only survive if its parasitic wealth extraction from participants is minimized. Either way Bitcoin has succeeded already to an incredible degree- empowering many individuals and projects that would have not otherwise have been possible.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 1h

But we must still mostly use fiat for everyday MoE, which leaves the fiat operators still with effective monopoly over everyday MoE.

The fiat system in its current format is unsustainable.

They can accept Bitcoin as a speculative commodity, taxed and tracked and traced, and increasingly custodied by them for a fee

Taxed and traced maybe under certain circumstances. But that doesn't mean it has to be custodied by 'them'. And as long as they don't have the keys... they can't censor the spending or movement of Bitcoin.

because if Bitcoin is used as a MoE directly undermines their monopoly monetary power and their ability to control all commerce and trade

You know what also undermines their monopoly monetary power? Borrowing ~ 7% of GDP per year and having to pay the interest. The math doesn't work when you can't raise taxes or cut spending (because the voters would vote you out).

As a reserve asset it does partially erode their monopoly

Dude eroding their monopoly means their bonds trend towards junk status and Bitcoin is AAA. They cannot sell debt the interest owed is too high, with too little demand when the bond is Junk.

where fiat can only survive if its parasitic wealth extraction from participants is minimized.

Well tell that to people in Zimbabwe. Or Mexico. Or Lebanon. Or the United States... people don't "have" to use fiat.

Either way Bitcoin has succeeded already to an incredible degree

I think Bitcoin is just getting started.

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Scoresby OP 3h

thanks for posting the text here.

102 sats \ 0 replies \ @SimpleStacker 7h

Nah, I don't think they will. Holders of tax sheltered retirement accounts also tend to have lots of political capital... they're unlikely to get shafted so easily. They'd sooner raid social security than people's 401ks