Why Don't People Invest in Cryptocurrency? Key Reasons Revealed

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Men and women often have different investing styles, but their reasons for avoiding crypto don't follow the typical pattern.

Despite growing interest in cryptocurrency, many investors are still reluctant to invest. A recent Bakkt U.S. Customer Crypto Survey aimed to find out why.

In the survey, Bakkt asked respondents what their greatest challenge was about buying cryptocurrency. While men and women had some similarities in their responses, the No. 1 reason they gave was different. Here's what men and women selected as their biggest crypto-buying challenge.

Men: Too much volatility

Among men, 39% were most concerned with the volatility of crypto. That was nearly double the number of men who chose any other issue, so there was a fairly large consensus.

It's interesting that volatility was more of an issue for men. Traditionally, women have been more conservative investors. Men, on the other hand, tend to be more confident (and in some cases, overconfident) in their investing ability. The fact that men see volatility as more of an issue is unexpected based on typical investing behaviors.

High volatility is a major challenge when investing in crypto. Because of how quickly crypto prices can change, it's best to only buy crypto with money you can afford to lose. Crypto should also be just a small portion of your overall investment portfolio. A popular recommendation is reserving 5% to 10% of your portfolio for these kinds of higher-risk investments.

Another good option if you're worried about crypto's volatility is dollar-cost averaging, which is when you spread out your investments over time. For example, you could invest $200 per month in crypto instead of $1,000 at once. With this method, you avoid the risk of putting in all your money at the peak of the market.

Women: I don't know where to start

For 30% of women in the survey, not knowing where to start was the biggest issue with crypto. Women's responses were more varied overall, and there wasn't one reason far ahead of all the others. Over a quarter (26%) of women said that crypto's volatility was their main challenge.

Still, the issue chosen by the most women is a common one. Plenty of people want to buy crypto but don't know where to start. It's hard to know which platform you should use, and especially for crypto beginners, there's that worry of getting scammed.

If being unsure of where to start with crypto has been holding you back, there's good news. You can find plenty of user-friendly, secure places to buy crypto. Start by checking out the best cryptocurrency apps and exchanges. See how they work and read reviews -- and you should be able to find an option you like.

We're well past the days when buying crypto was a complex process. Many crypto exchanges work similarly to online stock brokers, and there are even stock brokers that let you invest in cryptocurrencies. If you want to get into crypto, it doesn't take long to learn how.

Outside of their No. 1 reasons for avoiding crypto, men and women didn't see things too differently. Not trusting third-party exchanges and brokers was a somewhat common issue for men (20%) and women (17%). And 11% of both men and women said crypto prices were too high. Everyone has their challenges when it comes to crypto, but none of them needs to be a deal-breaker.

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