• A survey by digital asset manager Grayscale shows that 67 million Americans now own Bitcoin.
• More than half of these are new owners, having purchased the digital asset in the last 12 months.

Grayscale, the world’s largest crypto assets management firm by over $60B Assets Under Management (AUM), has revealed that 67 million Americans own Bitcoin (BTC). Currently, this accounts for 26 percent of the country’s total adult population, a rise from 23 percent in the last year.

Additionally, the survey shows that there has been an increase in awareness, and resultantly, the use of Bitcoin among other digital currencies. A study from Pew Research Center revealed similar findings last month – 86 percent of Americans had heard a little about crypto, and 24 percent had heard a lot about them.

55 percent of those owning Bitcoin entered the asset’s digital space in the last 12 months, Grayscale highlights. This suggests that interest in the crypto asset swelled considerably over this period. Even more, over 66 percent of these new buyers have been HODLing the asset since acquiring it. And as for those who liquidated their assets, at least 91 percent of them sold for a profit.

Bitcoin Growth and Dominance

The most likely reason for the upsurge in Bitcoin owners in the US is inflation. The annual inflation rate for the US is 6.2 percent for the 12 months ending Oct. 2021. This, according to the US Labor Department data, is the highest since November 1990. More and more investors are now seeking an inflationary hedge in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

This year has seen immense traction gained in the decentralized finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) industry. Based on data from DeFi Pulse, the current total value locked (TVL) in the DeFi industry is $105.08 billion. This figure climbed to a $276.92 billion record high around mid-September. On the other hand, NFTs are expected to hit a record $17.7 billion in sales by the end of the year.

These developments, however, have not stood in the way of Bitcoin’s industry influence, according to Grayscale. The crypto asset still accounts for 46 percent (the largest share) of the total crypto markets valuation.

Crypto ETFs Pull More Investments

Furthermore, the approval of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has encouraged some industry players to dip their toes in the digital market. The fact that these offerings are government-backed has only inspired them further.

“More than three-quarters (77%) of the U.S. investors said they would be more likely to invest in Bitcoin if an ETF existed.”

In October, investors ushered in the very first ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF which captured close to $1 billion in volume during its debut. Shortly after came Valkyrie’s ETF and last month the VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF. This has raised optimism that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will eventually approve a spot-based Bitcoin ETF.

BTC is now back at the $50K level after trading below it since last weekend. At press time, our data shows the asset was exchanging hands at $50,931.56, having gained 4.6 percent in the day.