25% of Fastest Growing Brands in 2021 Are Crypto Related, New Research Shows

Millennials and Gen Z adults were key drivers of adoption for top-ranking crypto brands.

This year seems to be the year cryptocurrencies and the crypto economy broke through the brand consciousness of consumers around the world. According to Morning Consult's latest research report titled "Fastest Growing Brands of 2021," five of the 20 fastest growing brands -- Coinbase (No. 4), Afterpay (No. 8), Cash App (No. 9), Chime (No. 15), and Bitcoin (No. 16) -- are digital groundbreakers within the fintech space.

What is this report about?

Established in 2014, Morning Consult has built a data collection technology platform with industry-leading quality standards and access to more than 100 million people globally to collect more than 15 million interviews in over 100 countries annually.

Its fastest growing brands report is the definitive measure of brand growth for both emerging and established brands, showcasing a wide range of companies and products that have accelerated their consumer appeal and awareness in 2021. This year's report ranks the top 20 fastest growing brands that have seen the biggest rise in purchasing consideration and how that is playing out across generations.

Gen Z is a key driver of top-ranked crypto brands

Crypto exchange platform Coinbase saw the biggest uptick in growth of the six financial services names on this year's list. This recognition comes as its banner cryptocurrency Bitcoin, which also secured a place on this year's rankings, reached a new all-time high in November. Coinbase debuted its initial public offering in April and has been trading below its initial price since, despite consideration and usage of the app steadily increasing throughout the year.

Gen Z adults solidified the crypto exchange platform's spot on the overall list with double-digit growth in their purchasing consideration (from 10% to 21%), but millennials remain the original and enduring proponents of the app, with 1 out of 4 considering the app and a roughly equal share (26%) saying they already use it.

Among the other top-ranking crypto brands, Bitcoin is the most widely known, and it continues to grow in awareness and popularity among U.S. adults. Like Coinbase, its place on the list of fastest growing brands is due largely to Gen Z's impressive uptake in purchasing consideration of the brand, from 19% in January to 28% by the end of October.

Taken together with the other crypto apps that dominate the fastest growing brands list, such as Afterpay and Chime, it's evident that younger consumers are looking for new ways to manage their finances, grow wealth, and make purchases -- which is reshaping the definition of money in the 21st century.

Ranking methodology

Morning Consult's "Fastest Growing Brands of 2021" rankings are determined by surveying tens of thousands of people across the globe on over 4,000 brands and products every day. The "growth" score represents the net shift between the share of consumers who said they were considering purchasing from the brand in January 2021 and the share who said the same in October.