Young People and Cryptocurrency: What the Next Generation Really Thinks About Digital Finance

BCB Group is delighted to host The London Foundation for Banking & Finance on Wednesday 22nd July for a networking breakfast and the presentation of their new research report, followed by an audience Q&A. Ahead of the event, here’s why this research matters and what to expect on the day.

For those of us working in digital assets, it’s easy to focus on the here and now: regulation, infrastructure, institutional adoption. But the next generation of market participants is already forming its views  – often years before it opens a bank account, let alone a trading account.

That’s the focus of Key Themes in Financial Capability: Young People and Cryptocurrency, a new research report from The London Foundation for Banking & Finance (LFBF), produced in collaboration with the GSR Foundation and delivered in partnership with London Youth. Drawing on a survey of 2,000 UK 15–18-year-olds, in-depth focus groups, and a review of UK and international literature, it offers one of the clearest pictures yet of how young people in the UK are encountering, understanding, and thinking about crypto.

We’ll be welcoming the LFBF team to present their findings at our breakfast event next Wednesday – and the report gives us plenty to discuss.

The headline: high awareness, low confidence, real appetite to learn

A few numbers stand out:

Around eight in ten young people have heard of cryptocurrency, and 27% of 15–18-year-olds surveyed have owned or used a crypto-related product – from exchanges and wallets to NFTs and gaming tokens. Engagement is happening early, and often well before formal financial education catches up.

Yet fewer than a quarter (23%) feel confident they understand how cryptocurrencies actually work. And crucially, 52% say they want to learn more about crypto and NFTs as part of their financial education – with safety, scam awareness, and understanding how crypto relates to traditional banking topping their wish lists.

Caution, not naivety

Perhaps the most striking theme in the research is how discerning this cohort is. Far from the stereotype of teenagers chasing meme-coin riches, the focus groups revealed young people who are deeply sceptical of finfluencer hype, alert to volatility and scams, and aware that the market currently lacks the consumer protections they’d expect elsewhere.

But that scepticism doesn’t stop at crypto. The research found a broader disillusionment with financial services as a whole — young people described banks as jargon-heavy, hard to access, and dismissive of them as current or future customers. Trust, the report argues, has to be rebuilt across the entire sector, not just in the digital asset corner of it.

Why this matters to our industry

The report’s recommendations – modernising financial education curricula, exploring learning methods suited to digital finance, and reconnecting young people with the financial services industry – are a challenge to all of us building the infrastructure of the digital asset economy.

If the UK is serious about becoming a world-leading digital asset ecosystem, financial capability can’t be an afterthought. The next generation is already here, already engaged, and already asking better questions than they’re often given credit for. Meeting them with credible information, accessible products, and genuine engagement isn’t just good citizenship – it’s good business.

Join us

The LFBF team will present the full findings, followed by an open Q&A – a chance to dig into the data, the equity questions it raises, and what industry can practically do next.

Event details

• What: Networking breakfast, report presentation and Q&A with The London Foundation for Banking & Finance and GSR
• When: Wednesday 22nd July 2026
• Register: https://luma.com/105xvyc8

Spaces are limited, so please register early. We look forward to seeing you there.

The full report, “Key Themes in Financial Capability: Young People and Cryptocurrency”, is available from LFBF.