US crypto usage rises to 10% in 2025, Fed reports
Investment remains the dominant use case for crypto, while payments and remittances account for a small share of overall activity.
Crypto adoption in the United States rose to 10% of adults in 2025, up two percentage points from the previous year, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest report on the economic well-being of US households.
The figure marks a rebound from 7% in 2023 and 8% in 2024, though it remains below the 12% recorded in 2021, when the survey first asked about cryptocurrency. The Federal Reserve notes that its online survey may include respondents who are more technologically connected than the overall population.
The data shows that crypto is used far more commonly as an investment tool than as a payment method. Around 9% of adults bought or held cryptocurrency as an investment in 2025, while 2% used it to buy something or make a payment, and 1% used it to send money to friends or family.
Among adults who used cryptocurrency for financial transactions, the most common reason was that the recipient preferred cryptocurrency. Other reasons included faster transfers, privacy and lower cost.
Transactional crypto use remained more common among unbanked adults, with 6% using cryptocurrency for financial transactions compared with 2% of banked adults. The Fed also found higher transactional use among adults who used nonbank check cashing or money orders. However, it stressed that crypto use for transactions remained very low even among those groups.
Why does it matter?
The Fed’s data show that crypto use in the United States is rebounding, but it still primarily functions as an investment rather than a mainstream payment tool. Payment use remains limited, including among adults who are more likely to rely on nonbank financial services, suggesting that digital assets have not yet become a broad alternative to traditional payment systems.
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