Cryptocurrency investors are more charitable than others, Fidelity says

The asset manager's philanthropic unit says crypto’s popularity could fuel charitable giving.

The popularity of cryptocurrency investing could fuel charitable giving, says Fidelity Charitable, which found that 45% of cryptocurrency investors donated $1,000 or more to charity in 2020, compared to 33% of all investors.

Cryptocurrency’s popularity among millennials “makes it increasingly likely that this trend is here to stay,” Fidelity said in a release. It found that 35% of millennials own crypto, versus just 13% of investors overall, and almost half (48%) of millennials see themselves as knowledgeable about digital currency, compared to just 13% of all investors.

What’s more, nearly nine-in-ten millennials say charitable giving is an important part of their lives, compared to 74% of the total population.

But the full financial implications of investing in cryptocurrency are not yet widely understood — even among those who have invested, Fidelity said, noting that 38% of cryptocurrency investors in a survey it conducted over the summer were not aware that selling digital assets is a taxable event and that 55% were not sure that digital assets can be donated to charity.