Who owns crypto in the euro area? Drivers of crypto adoption, payment use, and its interaction with fiat cash

Alejandro Zamora-Pérez

No 3215, Working Paper Series from European Central Bank

Abstract: Using a survey of 39,507 adults in 17 euro-area countries, I find that crypto-asset owners and the niche subgroup of payers have distinct profiles. Owners – typically younger, male, and financially active – exhibit mixed preferences, valuing both cash-like privacy and card-like speed. Crypto payers display a cash-centric profile, seeking to replicate physical cash’s privacy and ease of use in digital form. While standard specifications show that holding cash reserves is positively associated with owning crypto – challenging the view that early adopters reject cash –, a multiple-instrument IV strategy exploiting pandemic-related payment shocks reveals a causal sign reversal: for compliers, building precautionary cash buffers reduces the probability of crypto ownership under uncertainty. These findings (1) explain the ownership-payment wedge as driven by user profiles beyond merchant-acceptance frictions, (2) show crypto and cash act as portfolio complements but substitutes under stress, and (3) may inform crypto regulation and CBDC design. JEL Classification: E41, E42, E58, G11, O33

Keywords: digital assets; household finance; money demand; payment choice; store of value (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-fdg, nep-mon and nep-pay
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