From Safe Deposit Boxes to Digital Wallets: The Great Asset Migration
Robert Ross|May 27, 2025
Would you rather own gold or Bitcoin?
Ask a Baby Boomer and they’ll probably say, “the metal you can hold.”
Ask a Millennial or Gen Z investor, and you’ll likely hear, “the digital one you can send anywhere in minutes.”
This generational split isn’t just anecdotal anymore. A new survey from The Nakamoto Project and Gold IRA Guide shows that around 50 million Americans now own Bitcoin, compared to about 37 million who own gold.
Let that sink in…
More Americans now own Bitcoin than own investment-grade gold. And that delta is only going to widen in the years ahead.
Unlike gold – which previous generations have largely passed down or older investors have bought as a hedge – Bitcoin has become the go-to asset for younger generations.
But we’re still in the early stages of this generational shift.
And that has major implications for crypto investors.
The Great Generational Wealth Transfer
Over the next two decades, Baby Boomers are expected to pass down an estimated $90 trillion in wealth to their children and grandchildren. Millennials and Gen Z – who already make up most of the U.S. population – are just now entering their peak earning and investing years.
And when they invest, they invest digitally.
According to Schwab’s latest “Modern Wealth” report, 68% of investors under 40 prefer Bitcoin over gold as a long-term store of value. These are not theoretical preferences – they’re playing out in real time. Younger investors are choosing digital wallets over safe-deposit boxes and measure scarcity in code instead of karats.
Even among financial advisors, the trend is clear: 73% say Millennials proactively ask about crypto, compared to just 10% who ask about gold.
Bitcoin is simply more aligned with how younger investors live. It’s borderless. Frictionless. Transparent. And most importantly, it makes sense in a digital-native world where your phone is your bank, broker, and identity.
Why This Trend Matters
Unlike gold, Bitcoin has a hard cap of 21 million coins. It’s not inflationary. It’s not subject to mine expansion. As of this year, annual supply growth is under 1% – with another halving event expected in 2028 that will slow it even further.
Compare that to gold, which grows at about 1.5% to 2% per year as new mines come online. While gold is scarce, it isn’t fixed. Over time, that matters.
The rising adoption curve makes Bitcoin’s case gets even stronger. Apple, Visa, and Fidelity are all working on making crypto more accessible to retail investors. If just a small fraction of the $90 trillion in inherited wealth flows into Bitcoin, prices could rise substantially.
Institutions are leaning in. BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF just logged its 19th straight day of inflows. Coinbase will soon be added to the S&P 500 – the first crypto-native firm to ever make the index.
Dead Asset Walking?
Does this mean gold is dead?
No.
We’re watching a gradual handoff. For thousands of years, gold has served as the default hard asset during uncertain times. It still holds that status among older investors, central banks, and sovereign funds.
But for younger investors – especially those who’ve witnessed banks freeze accounts, governments print money, and institutions collapse – Bitcoin is the obvious alternative.
That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t own gold. I do. But gold has become more like a value stock – steady, conservative, limited upside.
Bitcoin, on the other hand, serves your growth engine. That’s the mindset shift that’s happening. And it’s showing up in the data.
When someone asks why I hold Bitcoin, I usually respond: It’s not that I hate gold – it’s just that I’d rather own the thing 30-year-olds are buying than the one 70-year-olds are hoarding.
The generational wealth transfer is real. And it’s well underway.
You can ignore that trend… or you can position yourself for it.
As for me? I’ll keep allocating to Bitcoin. I like my reserve assets scarce, decentralized, and accessible from anywhere.
A Note From Amanda: That $90 trillion wealth transfer Robert mentioned? It won’t just flow into Bitcoin. It’s going to create the biggest tokenization boom in history. Millennials don’t just want digital gold… they want fractional ownership of everything. We’ve identified the one exchange token positioned to capture fees from this massive shift. While Bitcoin might 10x, this infrastructure play could deliver far more as it processes the tokenization of an entire generation’s wealth. Access our key research here.
Robert Ross
Robert Ross’s unique style of clear and direct stock research helped him build a massive following in the investment research industry, starting his career at investment research company Mauldin Economics and quickly rising through the ranks to become one of the youngest chief analysts in the industry. Today, over a million investors turn to Ross every month for his take on investing, economics, and personal finance. He now shares his unique insights in Total Wealth and Manward Money Report.
