According to theWorld Economic Forum’s Global Retail Investor Outlook 2024, younger investors perceive crypto as more comprehensible than traditional investments such as ETFs, mutual funds, bonds, and stocks. While 29% avoid stocks due to a lack of understanding, only 24% say the same about crypto.

This data reflects a deeper generational shift, a larger generational shift, in which Millennials and Generation Zs are not only digital natives but are also reinventing the concept of investing. These groups are more technologically adept, willing to explore, and more accepting of new-age financial assets. Their focus isn’t just saving, it’s building wealth by tapping into emerging, disruptive opportunities.

Digital Natives with a Wealth-Building Mindset

Growing up with the internet, smartphones, and the real-time social media wave has influenced Millennials’ and Generation Z’s digital fluency. This naturally leads them to explore emerging technologies such as blockchain,Web3, anddecentralized finance(DeFi).

Their psychological behavior, which is characterized by curiosity, awareness, and a desire to look into and construct, offers them the patience to study and engage with crypto ecosystems. They aren’t looking for instant gains instead, they are planning long-term wealth strategies.

According to Hashed Emergent’s report titled India Web3 Landscape 2024, more than half of Indian Web3 developers have entered the profession in the previous two years, with 85% under the age of 27. This suggests not only early investment by Gen Zs and Millennials but also an active participation in building the ecosystem.

Inclination towards Transparency and Ownership

Younger generations, who frequently begin investing earlier than their predecessors, are increasingly drawn to models that provide transparency, control, and shared ownership. Web3 makes that commitment. With technologies like crypto wallets, DeFi protocols, and token-gated access, young investors see an opportunity to get around antiquated systems and take control of their financial future.

According to the same Hashed Emergent report, India is home to over 1,200 Web3 startups, making it the third-largest Web3 startup hub globally, many of which are founded or driven by youth.

Fuelled by Infrastructure and Institutional Interest

The surge in Web3 acceptance is also accompanied by broader infrastructure support, ranging from UPI prevalence and smartphone accessibility to digital-firstfinancial literacy. The educational landscape is also catching up, with institutions and edtech platforms launching blockchain-focused programs to accommodate rising demand from students and developers.

Rewriting Ownership and Identity

Web3 is more than just a technology for Gen Zs and Millennials; it represents an ideological shift. They are rethinking what it means to own, create, and participate in the digital world through activities such as DAO governance and digital collectible trading.

They do not only desire to consume. They want to create, co-own, and shape the digital worlds that they inhabit. Web3 provides them with the architecture and autonomy to do so.

Why Gen Z and Millennials Are Wired for Web3

Unlike their predecessors, who may have preferred safer and more regulated investment options like gold, real estate, or fixed deposits, Gen Z and Millennials appear to have a psychological preference and tendency towards experimentation and digital-first investing.

Their appetite for challenges is influenced by exposure to startups, side hustles, the creator economy, and instant access to global financial information.

For these generations, investing isn’t just a financial act, it has become a form of identity, participation, and belief in a future-forward system.

This perspective drives their early embrace of crypto, DAOs, and other tokenized assets, which provide direct ownership and a sense of co-creation in systems they believe in.

According to reports, this group is less constrained by traditional financial rules and motivated by peer influence, digital trends, and community validation, which is consistent with the way the Web3 ecosystem operates.

Their willingness to explore, build, and take on challenges, not just as early adopters but as the architects of the decentralized future, is what will define the next wave of digital innovation.

(The article is attributed to Kushal Manupati, Regional Growth & Ops Lead of South Asia, Binance.)