By Jamie McGeever

(Reuters) – You might have mistakenly assumed that crypto was only for young people.

It seems that more Americans are using cryptocurrencies for retirement funding than ever. The recent market chaos is a reminder of the fact that cryptocurrency trading isn’t for the weak-hearted.

A poll by KuCoin, crypto exchange found that 27% of Americans between 18 and 60 have traded or owned crypto within the last six months. This is approximately 50 million people.

According to a survey done at the end March, older people are still more committed to young assets than the general population. 28% bet on crypto in their early retirement plans.

The most common reasons they invested in crypto was that it represented the future of finance and they did not want to miss out on a trend. They also saw it as an opportunity to diversify their portfolios. (See GRAPHIC)

Recent market turmoil has silenced the talk that crypto and bitcoin would gain mainstream acceptance and become part of pension plans in 2022.

Erik Knutzen is Neuberger Berman’s chief investment officer for the multi-asset strategy strategies. He stated, “If they [investors] want crypto, they should have a very small amount of their portfolio and be ready to lose it.”

We wouldn’t recommend it for everyone.

Bitcoin is now trading around $30,000, down 60% compared to its peak price of $69,000 in November. The market crash has meant that many investors have lost a lot of their capital.

However, analysts and crypto investors are still watching for signals that bitcoin may rebound.

Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, global strategist at JP Morgan, and others stated last week that the crypto chaos had so soured investor sentiment that some metrics indicated a “good entry level for long-term investment.”

Funds, including ETFs, saw the biggest outflow since May 20,21. JP Morgan added that it was nearing oversold territory with its position proxy for Chicago Mercantile Exchange Bitcoin futures.

The team estimated bitcoin’s fair value at $38,000 using a model that takes into account the volatility ratio between bitcoin and gold. (Graphic: Crypto investor survey – KuCoin, https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/mkt/gdvzyebznpw/KUCOIN.jpg)

$100K AND MORE

KuCoin’s survey comes one week after 11,000 adult respondents to the Fed’s survey found that 12 percent of Americans had tried cryptocurrency investment.

Although it did not look at age differences, almost half of crypto-investors had an annual income over $100,000 and nearly a third had a income less than $50,000.

Is there a rush by asset managers to satisfy older crypto investors?

Fidelity Investments made headlines in April by announcing that people will soon have the option to use bitcoin as part of their retirement savings through their 401k investment plans.

A spokesperson for Fidelity told Reuters that “Fidelity operates and makes decisions with integrity, and an unwavering dedication to our customers including those who are saving for retirement.”

If the testimony from a Reuters summit of asset managers and investors in New York last week shows, then it could have the 401k cryptocurrency market for a while.

Crypto is considered too volatile for retirement. It is better to avoid crypto unless you’re a skilled investor such as a hedge-fund or can bear a large loss.