Tim Cook Owns Cryptocurrency -- So Do 68% of American Millionaires

68% of American millionaires own cryptocurrency, according to a Motley Fool survey. Read on for more details.

By Jack Caporal – Updated Dec 10, 2025 at 2:18 PM EST | Fact-checked by Parker Hicks

Key Points

68% of high-net-worth Americans own cryptocurrency, viewing it as a robust investment option.
Two-thirds of these millionaires have over half their portfolio in crypto, with many planning to increase this share.
Majority leverage crypto-focused websites for investment insights, showing a trend towards digital information sourcing.
These 10 Stocks Could Mint the Next Wave of Millionaires ›

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Reason to invest in cryptocurrency	Percentage of millionaire crypto investors
I believe it will generate strong returns	65.79%
I believe in the underlying philosophy of cryptocurrency (e.g., decentralized finance)	61.09%
I believe it is a safe store of value	60.28%
I believe it is a hedge against inflation	52.20%
Other	9.03%

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular cryptocurrencies among millionaires

Roughly 60% of high-net-worth individuals who have invested in cryptocurrency own Bitcoin, and 56% own Ethereum. These are the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.

Millionaires have branched out beyond mainstream cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin is owned by 48% of millionaire cryptocurrency investors, making it the third-most popular cryptocurrency among this group.

Roughly one-third own Shiba Inu. A similar percentage own other non-meme cryptocurrencies, like Tether, Cardano, and Solana.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Coin owned	Percentage of millionaire crypto investors
Bitcoin	59.99%
Ethereum	55.51%
Dogecoin	48.09%
Binance Coin	45.74%
XRP	37.67%
Tether	35.54%
Cardano	34.43%
Solana	34.21%
Shiba Inu	33.55%
Polkadot	31.86%
Other	8.22%

86% of millionaires who own cryptocurrency have purchased a memecoin like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu

More evidence for high-net-worth cryptocurrency investors' willingness to ride the memecoin craze is the fact that 86% of those who own cryptocurrency have at one point purchased a memecoin like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu.

The key difference between memecoins and more mainstream cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum is that memecoins have little real-world utility. Non-meme coins were developed to solve actual problems. Some memecoins, like Squid coin, have turned out to be outright crypto scams, with the creators of the cryptocurrency making off with $3.4 million while investors were left with nothing but losses.

It should be noted that crypto scams have increased in 2025 to the tune of $3.1 billion in losses in the first half of the year, according to Hacken, a crypto and cybersecurity firm.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Have you ever purchased a "memecoin" (e.g., Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, Squid)?	Percentage of millionaire crypto investors
Yes	86.42%
No	13.58%

Most high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners aren't fazed by recent scams

Cryptocurrency scams have made some millionaire investors, particularly those who don't own cryptocurrency, less interested in investing.

Among high-net-worth cryptocurrency investors who took our survey, just 24% said recent crypto scams have made them less interested in investing in cryptocurrency. 62% of high-net-worth crypto owners said they're more interested in investing in cryptocurrency because of recent high-profile scams.

On the other hand, 44% of American millionaires who don't own cryptocurrency said recent scams have made them less enthusiastic about investing in cryptocurrency. Just 37% said they were more interested in investing in crypto following high-profile scams.

How much have recent crypto scams (Walmart Litecoin, Squid coin, etc.) affected how you view crypto investments?

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Group	I'm much more interested in investing	I'm a bit more interested in investing	They didn't affect my views on crypto	I'm a bit less interested in investing	I'm much less interested in investing
Crypto owners	47.76%	13.96%	15.87%	9.18%	13.23%
Non-owners	20.22%	16.93%	19.75%	20.53%	22.57%
All	38.97%	14.91%	17.11%	12.81%	16.21%

71% of millionaire crypto investors would use a credit card with cryptocurrency rewards, 58% would store crypto with a bank

Most American millionaires who own cryptocurrency would likely use a credit card with crypto rewards and bank with an institution that allows storing cryptocurrency.

This tracks with the views of the broader American public, of which 65% said they would consider using a credit card that provides cryptocurrency rewards, and 70% said they would consider buying crypto if they could store it in a bank account.

Millionaires who don't own cryptocurrency are less interested in crypto credit card rewards or bank account support, but weren't entirely dismissive of them. 36% said they would likely use a credit card that provides crypto rewards, and 40% said they'd be likely to use a bank with crypto support.

Which of the following would you be likely to use?

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Groups	A credit card with cryptocurrency rewards	A bank that lets you store cryptocurrency in an account	None of the above
Crypto owners	70.76%	58.34%	8.30%
Non-owners	36.21%	40.60%	35.11%
All	59.73%	52.68%	16.86%

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
How much of your portfolio is allocated to cryptocurrency?	Percentage of respondents
1–9%	7.42%
10–24%	11.89%
25–49%	14.54%
50–74%	25.33%
75–99%	24.89%
100%	15.93%

71% of American millionaires say they're likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next year

High-net-worth cryptocurrency owners want to continue investing in cryptocurrency -- 66% say they're very likely to buy more cryptocurrency in the next year and 16% say they're somewhat likely to do so.

About half of the millionaires who don't own cryptocurrency may have a change of heart over the next year and make their first investments in cryptocurrency. 24% of that group said they are very likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next year, while 25% said they are somewhat likely to do so.

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How likely are you to buy cryptocurrency in the next year?

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Group	Very likely	Somewhat likely	Somewhat unlikely	Very unlikely
Crypto owners	66.27%	15.58%	8.16%	9.99%
Non-owners	24.45%	24.76%	24.45%	26.33%
All	52.93%	18.51%	13.36%	15.21%

59% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency expect to allocate more of their portfolio to it over the next five years

Millionaires who own cryptocurrency aren't just likely to buy more in the next year, they also expect to have cryptocurrency make up a larger share of their portfolio over the next five years.

59% of American millionaires who own crypto expect cryptocurrency to make up more of their portfolio in five years. 22% believe that cryptocurrency will make up the same percentage.

19% anticipate that cryptocurrency will make up less of their portfolio over the next five years, a similar percentage of respondents who said they were unlikely to buy cryptocurrency over the next 12 months.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
How do you anticipate cryptocurrency's role in your portfolio changing over the next five years?	Percentage of respondents
Crypto will make up more of my portfolio	59.18%
Crypto will make up the same percentage of my portfolio	22.10%
Crypto will make up less of my portfolio	18.72%

Millionaires view cryptocurrency as riskier than other investments

Despite the enthusiasm for cryptocurrency, millionaires view cryptocurrency as the riskiest type of investment, regardless of whether they own cryptocurrency.

High-net-worth individuals see NFTs as the second-most risky investment, followed by stocks, index funds, bonds, real estate, and finally options.

Cryptocurrency owners, on average, assigned NFTs and stocks the same amount of risk.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Asset	Cryptocurrency owners' risk ranking (1 being least risky)	Non-owners' risk ranking (1 being least risky)	Total
Cryptocurrency	2.43	2.26	2.38
NFTs	2.14	2.15	2.15
Stocks	2.14	2.13	2.13
Index funds	1.84	1.94	1.87
Bonds	1.84	1.86	1.85
Real estate	1.85	1.76	1.82
Options	1.75	1.9	1.8

Gen Z millionaires are the only generation that don't see cryptocurrency as the riskiest asset. Instead, they consider options to be riskier. This reflects Gen Z's overall view of cryptocurrency -- that it's a more stable investment than stocks or options.

Gen Z also considers NFTs to be less risky than index funds and bonds, and stocks to be less risky than all three of those assets. This may be a result of Gen Z beginning to invest in years when stocks and digital assets have had historically strong returns.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Asset	Risk assigned by Gen Z investors	Risk assigned by millennial investors	Risk assigned by Gen X investors	Risk assigned by baby boomer investors	Risk assigned by Silent Generation investors	Risk assigned by all generations
Cryptocurrency	2.06	2.45	2.40	2.38	2.53	2.38
NFTs	1.98	2.18	2.10	2.30	2.53	2.15
Stocks	1.97	2.18	2.21	1.84	2.13	2.13
Index funds	2.00	1.82	1.83	2.12	2.27	1.87
Bonds	1.99	1.82	1.87	1.79	1.13	1.85
Real estate	1.93	1.83	1.79	1.70	1.33	1.82
Options	2.07	1.72	1.8	1.87	2.07	1.80

Roughly a third of millionaire crypto owners trade cryptocurrency at least once a day, but most want to hold for years

35% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency trade at least once a day. Another 21% trade once a week.

Trading, including buying and selling, so 35% of high-net-worth individuals aren't necessarily day trading cryptocurrency. But there's clearly enthusiasm among high-net-worth investors about cryptocurrency.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
How often do you trade cryptocurrency?	Percentage of respondents
I make at least one trade a day	34.73%
I make at least one trade a week	21.37%
I make at least one trade a month	13.73%
I make at least one trade every six months	10.65%
I make at least one trade a year	10.21%
I haven't trade cryptocurrency in over a year	9.32%

The fact that about 91% of high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners want to hold their cryptocurrency investments for more than a year suggests that most are not interested in day trading cryptocurrency and view it as a long-, or at least medium-, term investment.

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
On average, how long do you keep a cryptocurrency investment? (If you haven't sold one yet, how long do you anticipate holding your investments?)	Percentage of respondents
Less than a year	9.25%
1–2 years	13.36%
2–3 years	15.57%
3–4 years	15.64%
4–5 years	17.33%
5–10 years	17.11%
10+ years	11.75%

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Group	Lack of education about cryptocurrency	Lack of support and cryptocurrency services from major financial institutions	Uncertain regulatory environment	Lack of belief in the value of cryptocurrency	Too few uses for cryptocurrency	Other
Crypto owners	23.44%	22.70%	11.83%	22.26%	14.84%	4.92%
Non-owners	21.47%	17.71%	15.36%	17.24%	14.26%	13.95%
Total	22.81%	21.11%	12.96%	20.66%	14.66%	7.80%

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Data source: The Motley Fool survey of 2,000 high-net-worth Americans, conducted November 3, 2021.
Where do you get information on cryptocurrency?	Percentage of respondents
Cryptocurrency data and media websites (CoinDesk, Coin Metrics)	58.66%
Social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn)	53.89%
Financial media (Seeking Alpha, NerdWallet, Investing.com)	52.06%
News media (CNN, Fox Business, NPR)	48.09%
Family and friends	44.13%
Financial advisor	43.10%
Print or broadcast media (newspaper, magazines, TV)	42.58%
Other	7.93%

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About the Author

Jack Caporal is the Research Director for The Motley Fool and Motley Fool Money. Jack leads efforts to identify and analyze trends shaping investing and personal financial decisions across the United States. His research has appeared in thousands of media outlets including Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, Bloomberg, and CNBC, and has been cited in congressional testimony. He previously covered business and economic trends as a reporter and policy analyst in Washington, D.C. He serves as Chair of the Trade Policy Committee at the World Trade Center in Denver, Colorado. He holds a B.A. degree in International Relations with a concentration in International Economics from Michigan State University.

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The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Key findings

68% of high-net-worth individuals -- roughly 4.7 million Americans, each with a net worth of at least $1 million -- own cryptocurrency.

Two-thirds of American millionaires who own cryptocurrency believe it will generate strong returns, 60% see it as a safe store of value, and 61% believe in the underlying philosophy of crypto.

Bitcoin is owned by 60% of high-net-worth individuals who have invested in cryptocurrency, while 55% own Ethereum.

86% of high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners have invested in a memecoin like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu.

71% of high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners would use a credit card that offered cryptocurrency rewards, and 58% would use a bank account that stores cryptocurrency.

Two out of three millionaire cryptocurrency investors have at least half of their portfolio in cryptocurrency.

59% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency expect to allocate more of their portfolio to it over the next five years.

81% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency are likely to buy more in the next year. 50% of those who don't own cryptocurrency are likely to buy in the next year as well.

Lack of education about cryptocurrency is seen as the biggest barrier to investment by high-net-worth individuals.

Two-thirds of American millionaires hold cryptocurrency in search of strong returns

68% of high-net-worth individuals (those with a net worth of $1 million or more), about 4.7 million Americans, own cryptocurrency.

The most cited reason for investing in cryptocurrency is a belief that cryptocurrency will generate strong returns.

About 60% of American millionaire crypto investors bought cryptocurrency because they believe it's a safe store of value. A similar percentage invested because they believe in the underlying philosophy of cryptocurrency, such as decentralized finance.

Just over 50% of high-net-worth individuals who have invested in cryptocurrency cited its potential to be a hedge against inflation.

Tim Cook Owns Cryptocurrency -- So Do 68% of American Millionaires

68% of American millionaires own cryptocurrency, according to a Motley Fool survey. Read on for more details.

Key Points

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular cryptocurrencies among millionaires

86% of millionaires who own cryptocurrency have purchased a memecoin like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu

Most high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners aren't fazed by recent scams

How much have recent crypto scams (Walmart Litecoin, Squid coin, etc.) affected how you view crypto investments?

71% of millionaire crypto investors would use a credit card with cryptocurrency rewards, 58% would store crypto with a bank

Which of the following would you be likely to use?

71% of American millionaires say they're likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next year

How likely are you to buy cryptocurrency in the next year?

59% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency expect to allocate more of their portfolio to it over the next five years

Millionaires view cryptocurrency as riskier than other investments

Roughly a third of millionaire crypto owners trade cryptocurrency at least once a day, but most want to hold for years

About the Author

Premium Investing Services

What percentage of Americans own Bitcoin?

How many Americans own crypto?

Key findings

Two-thirds of American millionaires hold cryptocurrency in search of strong returns

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most popular cryptocurrencies among millionaires

86% of millionaires who own cryptocurrency have purchased a memecoin like Dogecoin or Shiba Inu

Most high-net-worth cryptocurrency owners aren't fazed by recent scams

How much have recent crypto scams (Walmart Litecoin, Squid coin, etc.) affected how you view crypto investments?

71% of millionaire crypto investors would use a credit card with cryptocurrency rewards, 58% would store crypto with a bank

Which of the following would you be likely to use?

Two out of three millionaires who own cryptocurrency have at least half of their portfolio in crypto

71% of American millionaires say they're likely to buy cryptocurrency in the next year

How likely are you to buy cryptocurrency in the next year?

59% of high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency expect to allocate more of their portfolio to it over the next five years

Millionaires view cryptocurrency as riskier than other investments

Roughly a third of millionaire crypto owners trade cryptocurrency at least once a day, but most want to hold for years

Lack of education about cryptocurrency is seen as the biggest barrier to adoption among millionaires

What's the biggest barrier keeping more people out of investing in cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency-focused websites are the most popular sources of information for high-net-worth individuals who own cryptocurrency

Are high-net-worth Americans ahead of the crypto curve?

Sources

Methodology