The Current State of Crypto within the U.S. Hispanics Community

Guest post by Ola, which is enabling Hispanics to grow their wealth by investing, saving, and learning.


2021 was the year of crypto adoption globally with 41% of current crypto owners purchased crypto for the first time. But, does this trend hold across all population segments? While crypto has been affected by the recent market downturn, we believe that challenges provide room for opportunities. Ola’s mission is to empower Latinos to grow their wealth through education and access, so we set out to understand the U.S. Hispanics’ current state of crypto and made some surprising discoveries, which we share with you here!

U.S. Hispanics are adopting crypto at a faster rate, but still lag behind their non-Hispanic counterparts

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U.S. Hispanics were more likely than their non-Hispanic counterparts to have purchased cryptocurrency or NFTs in 2021(1). However, most U.S. Hispanics have never invested in crypto, as only 22% of U.S. Hispanics reported owning crypto in 2021 vs. 55% of White/Caucasian.

Education is the biggest initial barrier, but also the biggest booster into crypto

Even though 51% of Latinos said educational resources would make them more comfortable purchasing crypto, the majority said that they don’t have time nor access to trustworthy resources to learn from.

Through our conversations, we found that most U.S. Hispanic crypto investors were skeptical at first. However, those that spent time learning about crypto became more and more engaged, setting recurring purchases and taking advantage of other crypto products, such as NFTs and staking. As Eduardo mentioned, “Once you’re in crypto, you get pulled deeper and you see all the possibilities available”.

Stocks first, if any, and maybe crypto second

“I have never invested in the U.S. stock market and now thinking of going into crypto feels like too much” stated Ivana. Turns out U.S. Hispanics want to invest in stocks first and only then will consider investing in crypto. Through our conversations, we found that U.S. Hispanics who have purchased crypto are over 5 times more likely to have previously invested in stocks than non crypto investors. This is problematic since only 28%(2) of U.S. Hispanic families invest in the stock market.

Lack of regulation and security are big concerns

The decentralization offered by blockchain not only opens a wide array of opportunities but also of questions. U.S. Hispanics still feel uneasy about the fact that no single authority is behind blockchain technology. “The fact that authorities do not back crypto gives me anxiety”, mentioned Adriana.

Additionally, crypto cyber attacks are adding to the anxiety of many Latinos. 60% of those who haven’t invested in crypto said that security would be their main criterion when evaluating crypto platforms.

Fortunately, not all hope is lost for U.S. Hispanics’ future with crypto.

As mentioned above, they are adopting crypto at a faster rate than non-Hispanics and through our conversations we learned that the majority of those who still haven’t purchased crypto have previously considered it. U.S. Hispanics value the financial inclusion that crypto provides them and access to education has proved to ease their concerns and increase their levels of engagement with crypto.

Crypto is a vehicle for financial inclusion

The U.S. Hispanic crypto investors we spoke with mentioned that the main benefits they receive from crypto are “economic freedom” and “acceptance in the modern world”. Hispanics in the US have been at the sidelines of financial inclusion for many years. Crypto removes many of these barriers and gives them hope for a more inclusive future and a way to progress financially.

U.S. Hispanic crypto investors have high levels of engagement with crypto

While U.S. Hispanics said they don’t check their stock market investments very often, those that invest in crypto said they check crypto prices almost daily. Additionally, half of them mentioned that they purchase crypto on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. It is clear that U.S. Hispanics are seeing the benefits of breaking through the initial barriers to access crypto and now keep coming back!

Ola is working on a crypto trading product that will address U.S. Hispanics’ concerns about crypto and empower them to unlock their economic freedom. Here is how we are doing it:

  • Stocks as the first step for U.S. Hispanics. Ola is live on the AppStore, providing access to stocks and ETFs through our technology. As users become more comfortable with investing and launch their investment journeys, we are excited to expand our product offerings and grow together.
  • Educational content to ease investors’ concerns and unlock their full potential. We are passionate about education and have a dedicated educational website. Our educational content is relevant to your needs and accessible from all angles: language (Spanish and English), timing (quick but powerful), and level of difficulty (words that anyone understands!)
  • Addressing security concerns. We keep security at the forefront of everything we do. We provide security measures such as biometric authentication, 2FA and will launch a virtual crypto wallet where you can store your crypto safely.
  • Features for investors with high levels of engagement. We are working on launching recurring automatic deposits and purchases. You simply tell us what, how much and how often and we take care of the rest, so that you can sit back and watch your portfolio expand.

For those of you that are already crypto investors, we are excited about your excitement for crypto and hope that you will join Ola to continue this journey together! And for the majority of you that have considered becoming crypto investors, but haven’t yet, we hope that you will join Ola so that together we can fight the barriers you face and access economic freedom!

If you want to follow our journey, follow us on social media @olainvierte.

Our methodology

Ola carried out 17 individual interviews, received 150 survey responses, and launched an Instagram stories mini-survey with 23 respondents. Thanks to this feedback, we can learn how to build products that will enable the new generation of Hispanic investors. External market research includes Gemini’s 2022 Global State of Crypto report and MRKT’s 2Q 2022 Financial Wellness report.

Sources:

  1. 26% of U.S. Hispanics invested in cryptocurrency or NFTs in 2021 vs. 17% of non-Hispanics. mitu and MRKT’s 2Q 2022 Financial Wellness report data based mainly on Gen Xers, Millennials and Gen Z survey respondents.
  2. Federal reserve data.