In his weekly Forbes column, Ron Shevlin looks at the increase in trading volume of the major cryptocurrencies in 2020; Starting in February, trading volume hit a new high that was sustained through May before dropping off in June; a new study from Cornerstone Advisors revealed that 15% of American adults now own some form of cryptocurrency with just over half making their first investment in the first six months of this year; nearly eight in 10 crypto buyers were men and the average income was $130,000 with 70% having a Bachelor’s degree or higher; Millennials (26 to 40 years old) comprised 57% of the consumers buying cryptocurrency in 2020 with Gen Xers (41 to 55 years old) accounting for 30%; Square has benefited from this this surge in crypto trading with bitcoin revenue for their Cash App growing to $306 million in Q1; with the OCC last week announcing support for crypto custody services there is a real opportunity for banks to provide Bitcoin wallets and other cryptocurrency trading services as a way to differentiate their services. Forbes.
