In the traditional narrative of wealth inheritance, cash, real estate and precious metals have long occupied the core. However, when the market value of Bitcoin has jumped to the fifth largest asset in the world, surpassing Amazon and Google, and approaching Apple and Nvidia, a new logic of intergenerational inheritance is emerging: more than 33% of respondents prefer to use crypto assets for inheritance, surpassing traditional assets such as cash, real estate and gold.
On the occasion of "June 1st International Children's Day", OKX jointly launched (Wealth and Courage Across Time: Bitcoin Inheritance Survey Questionnaire) with five industry media including PANews, BlockBeats, Golden Finance, Planet Daily, and Chaincatcher, covering more than 5,000 crypto users in the industry. The survey group is positioned as users who have a certain understanding of cryptocurrency.
Asset preference: Crypto assets have become the preferred asset inheritance tool for industry insiders, far exceeding gold and real estate
In traditional cognition, real estate and gold are the "ballast stones" of wealth intergenerational transmission. However, for those who already have a certain understanding of cryptocurrencies, crypto assets have become the core asset category for intergenerational inheritance, surpassing cash and bank deposits, real estate and gold to become the first choice of the interviewed users.
33.39% of the respondents in the survey group put crypto assets at the top of the inheritance asset category, and 30.92% of the respondents preferred cash and bank deposits. Only 19.24% and 14.47% of users preferred real estate or gold. This survey of the blockchain industry group clearly shows that when considering future wealth inheritance, the recognition of crypto assets has shown a strong momentum.
The crypto community's long-term belief in digital assets has surpassed its reliance on traditional hard assets. Compared with the physical attributes and geographical restrictions of real estate, or the physical storage and relatively modest appreciation potential of gold, crypto assets are better able to adapt to future economic forms and meet the needs of long-term wealth growth.
In the survey, the respondents generally recognized the value-added potential, global circulation, and scarcity characteristics of crypto assets. Among them, 73.34% chose value-added potential, 66.56% chose global circulation, and 47.85% chose scarcity. This characteristic distribution shows that for the interviewed crypto users, Bitcoin and other assets have both the ability to increase value in the time dimension and borderless liquidity in the space dimension compared to traditional assets. At the same time, this also reflects that this group generally expects that the current price of crypto assets such as Bitcoin has not yet reached its peak, and there is still room for appreciation in the future.
Compared to historical prices, Bitcoin has become a mature alternative asset, and volatility has clearly trended downward over time. In the early stages of Bitcoin, Bitcoin's 180-day realized volatility often exceeded 80%-100%. Its volatility also increased significantly during black swan events such as the epidemic and FTX. However, since 2021, Bitcoin's 180-day realized volatility has gradually declined, stabilizing at around 50%-60%. This puts its volatility on par with many popular technology stocks and lower than MicroStrategy (MSTR) and Tesla (TSLA). This maturation trend provides a more stable basis for viewing it as a long-term heritage asset.
Accumulation strategy: Nearly half of the families plan to inherit more than 30% of their shares, and prefer direct purchase or fixed investment.
At the same time, the allocation intention survey further confirmed this structural change: 45% of the respondents planned that crypto assets accounted for no less than 30% of their children's inheritance assets, of which 31% of families planned to allocate 30%-50%, and 14% of families planned to allocate more than 50%. This indicates that crypto assets have evolved from marginal allocations to mainstream inheritance tools, reflecting users' high consensus on the long-term value of digital assets.
In the survey on how to obtain Bitcoin, user behavior also showed a distinct risk preference stratification. 40.79% of users chose to buy Bitcoin directly, seizing specific opportunities to quickly build positions; 31.58% chose a fixed investment strategy to gradually accumulate Bitcoin, smoothing volatility risks through purchases, and transforming Bitcoin inheritance into an executable long-term wealth accumulation plan, showing their belief in the long-term value of digital assets.
After further analysis of relevant data such as allocation ratio, we found that the higher the proportion of Bitcoin users allocate, the stronger their security anxiety is, and they are more inclined to adopt a wallet storage portfolio fixed investment strategy, indicating that security concerns are significantly positively correlated with asset size. In contrast, users who choose professional custody platforms (such as exchanges) rely more on the platform's strong systematic risk control capabilities and require the platform to have the ability to resist external attack risks.
In essence, this is a game of choice about "risk ownership". The differentiation of custody models clearly marks that the inheritance of crypto assets has entered a new stage of institutionalization, instrumentation and specialization.
Inheritance path: 56% of users choose self-custody, but more than 70% of respondents are worried about losing their private keys
The survey results show that most respondents chose wallets and exchanges as the way of inheritance. Among them, 56.58% of users chose self-custody (wallet), which reflects the fundamental demand of these respondents for asset control, directly assuming private key management and internalizing security risks. 26.97% of respondents chose exchanges, actively transferring security responsibilities to professional institutions, and their trust is based on the verified risk control system built by the latter.
How to safely pass on crypto assets to the next generation has become a primary issue that needs to be urgently addressed by those who wish to pass on their assets.
In addition, users have changed their mindset from speculative trading to long-term asset custody. Among the interviewed groups, 70.68% of crypto users are worried about losing their private keys, 47.12% are afraid of hacker attacks, and price volatility ranks third among the risk factors of inheritance plans (44.81%). As Bitcoin matures and volatility stabilizes, price volatility has dropped to third place in the ranking of inheritance risks. This shows that among those who are willing to inherit, price fluctuations are no longer the primary concern, and security is becoming the core of concern.
Cognitive transfer: Diversified Bitcoin education methods, technical principle explanation may become a rigid demand
Crypto asset inheritance is not only about the assets themselves, but also the continuation of cognition and belief. The proportion of users who choose gamification teaching, practical trading experience, and economic history comparison is highly similar; and more than 50% of users hope that the next generation can understand the principles of blockchain technology. Only 11.20% of users choose not to actively teach, which proves that cognitive transfer is a prerequisite for asset inheritance.
Singapore has included blockchain in its secondary school curriculum, and the Ivy League schools in the United States have opened general cryptography courses. It can be seen that technology awareness is becoming a survival skill for "digital natives". This indicates that the inheritance scenario has been upgraded from "wealth transfer" to "ability transfer". The inheritance of crypto assets is not only about asset ownership, but also about how to enable the next generation to have the ability to understand, use, and judge the future financial system.
In addition, it is worth noting that in the planning of inheritance assets, respondents without children allocated a significantly higher proportion of crypto assets in their inheritance plans. This trend may reflect that compared with traditional real estate, gold and other assets, the new generation is more inclined to use crypto assets such as Bitcoin as mainstream inheritance assets, demonstrating their high recognition of the long-term value of digital assets.
Conclusion:
As the financial form moves from ledgers to blockchain, the family asset structure is also moving from physical property rights to digital sovereignty. The next generation no longer inherits only property deeds and bank accounts, but the control over digital assets. This is no longer a fringe practice in the geek circle, but is becoming a new paradigm for mainstream family wealth inheritance. The market's recognition of its long-term appreciation, global circulation and scarcity continues to strengthen, while placing higher requirements on safe custody and education popularization.
OKX has always been committed to protecting the security of every family's on-chain assets. We have not only witnessed the growth of crypto assets, but also helped every trust to continue from one generation to the next - making digital wealth truly endless, transcending time and generations, and passing on the torch.
Disclaimer:
This article is for reference only. This article only represents the author's views and does not represent the position of OKX. This article is not intended to provide (i) investment advice or investment recommendations; (ii) an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or hold digital assets; (iii) financial, accounting, legal or tax advice. We do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of such information. Holding digital assets (including stablecoins and NFTs) involves high risks and may fluctuate significantly. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding digital assets is suitable for you based on your financial situation. Please consult your legal/tax/investment professionals for your specific situation. Please be responsible for understanding and complying with local applicable laws and regulations.
