One out of every 10 millennials sold cryptocurrency to save for their first home, according to a new survey from Redfin.
The survey, released Thursday, was designed to understand the concerns of people planning to buy a home in the next year. It featured responses from 2,000 participants across the U.S. in total and 500 between the ages of 24 and 38 — which Redfin used to define the millennial age bracket.
Ten percent of the 500 millennials included in the survey said they sold cryptocurrency — which includes such volatile digital tender as bitcoin — to be able to afford an initial down payment on a primary home.
While these investments remain high-risk, new startups are seeking people to put money into cryptocurrencies and the blockchain technologies behind them.
Nonetheless, a majority of millennials still saved for their first home the traditional way — 69 percent put aside portions of a paycheck each month; 36 percent added earnings from a secondary job; and 24 percent received cash from family.
Along with cryptocurrency, four other less popular ways of saving included selling stocks (13 percent), pulling money out of retirement funds early (13 percent), inheritances (12 percent) and contributing less to retirement funds (12 percent).
However, once these savings were analyzed by income level, Redfin discovered larger discrepancies: 60 percent of those who earned more than $100,000 a year stashed away savings from their paycheck (compared to 75 percent of those earning less than $100,000 a year) and instead were more likely to have sold cryptocurrency or stock investments, pulled money out of retirement funds or received an inheritance or other family gift, Redfin Senior Economist Sheharyar Bokhari said.
“These results reveal some of the inequalities that have been exacerbated in the years following the recession, with the well-off having more flexibility and thereby ability to become homeowners and build more wealth, through advantages like financial support from family and the opportunity to invest in the stock market,” Bokhari said in a statement.