Nearly a Third of Millennials Say They'd Rather Own Bitcoin Than Stocks

Being an optimist, I read the news as 2/3 of millennials would still prefer stocks to bitcoins.

However, had the question been "You have saved US$ 1,000, what would you do with it?", the number of millennials stating they would buy the latest smartphone would probably be preoccupying.

It's probably not completely idiotic to favor bitcoin over government bonds - one of these two has at least the chance of increasing in value significantly more than inflation.

But give me Vanguard Admiral shares.

I think it's pessimistic but reasonable to expect that most people fail to understand the fundamentals behind both stocks and bitcoin.

Given that, I think the best way to read this is as a measure of faith. What is the expected source of future economic growth? Emerging tech, or existing economic structures? Given the state of young people in the US, it's not surprising to see confidence waning in incumbent financial systems.

> The study of more than 2,000 people found that 42 percent of millennials are at least somewhat familiar with bitcoin, compared with 15 percent among those ages 65 and up.

Something that is not clear from the article is: what exactly does "somewhat familiar" mean?

What percentage of millennials even understand Bitcoin? How many of us on HN are frequently asked about investing in cryptocurrencies by people who have no business approaching the topic.

As a fellow lizard person, I concur. I do have a 401k but i've been putting more into crypto coins these days.