The survey was conducted by Morgan Stanley among its summer interns: more than 500 in North America (June 26 - July 10) and 147 in Europe (June 26 - July 7).
Crypto adoption still low:
Only 18% of respondents own or use cryptocurrencies, up from 13% the previous year.
The proportion of those showing interest rose to 26% (up from 23% last year), but it is still low.
Most remain indifferent:
55% of participants are not interested in digital assets — although this percentage decreased from 63% the previous year.
AI adoption versus crypto:
A striking contrast: while crypto adoption is low, AI adoption is massive: 96% of interns in the U.S. and 91% in Europe already use artificial intelligence technologies.
Contextualizing: what does all this reveal?
Despite Bitcoin's price surpassing USD 100,000, adoption among young finance professionals remains limited: we are still very much at the beginning in terms of widespread adoption.
According to Morgan Stanley, in 2024, 69% of the population did not own cryptocurrencies, and that figure is projected to rise to 82% in 2025.
What does this tell us about the state of the crypto market?
1. Very early adoption
Although the crypto infrastructure has consolidated, real participation remains very early.
2. Latent growth capacity
The high percentage of non-adopters leaves room for the market to grow as confidence, education, and favorable regulation increase.
3. Competes with more mature industries
Digital assets compete with sectors that attract more attention, such as AI. This reflects a challenge to gain interest and relevance.
The survey confirms that cryptocurrency adoption remains limited, even as prices reach record levels. We are still in a phase of very early penetration among future finance professionals. While there is growth, it is slow, and there is much latent potential to explore.
