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Bitcoin’s past gains draw new crypto buyers, Fed study finds

A Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study in 2025 found that showing households bitcoin’s prior-year return increased later self-reported crypto ownership by about 2.4 to 2.5 percentage points, while also boosting desired crypto allocations by roughly 2 points.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Market Structure

CoinDesk highlights findings from a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland working paper suggesting that presenting bitcoin’s recent performance can pull additional households toward crypto. In a 2025 survey, researchers randomly showed participants different market information to test whether it affected later crypto behavior.

According to the study, when respondents were told bitcoin’s return over the previous 12 months, the probability they later reported owning crypto rose by 2.41 percentage points. A separate treatment showing a bitcoin price chart increased later ownership by 2.48 percentage points, compared with a control group.

CoinDesk reports the effect also showed up in planned portfolio behavior. The bitcoin treatments increased desired crypto allocations by about 2 percentage points from a 4.3% average in the control group, largely by reducing intended holdings of cash, checking, and savings accounts.

The study covered 5,352 respondents across the second through fourth quarters of 2025 and relied on self-reported ownership rather than transaction data. CoinDesk notes the impact was strongest among people who said they avoided crypto because they did not know enough about it, consistent with a feedback-loop explanation for bubbles, while those who already viewed crypto as a bad investment saw no statistically significant effect.

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