Over 40 % of Aussie Gen Z & Millennials Regret Skipping Crypto — See It as Big 10-Year Miss

The regret is hitting younger Australians hard, according to a new survey from Brisbane-based crypto exchange Swyftx.

The exchange’s 5th Annual Crypto Survey found a whopping 40% of under-35s regret not buying Bitcoin 10 years ago. 

It was the most regretted missed investment opportunity of the past decade, cited by Aussie Millennials and Gen Zs, alongside not purchasing real estate (also 40%).

When you look at the returns Bitcoin has seen in the past decade, the regret makes sense. Since 2015 Bitcoin has increased in value by over 40,000%. By comparison, Apple shares have increased around 800% over the same period and national average property prices are up 74%. 

The survey, which was conducted in July in partnership with polling company YouGov and included 3009 respondents, also found only 4% of Gen Zs and Millennials are happy with the investing choices they made a decade ago, compared to 12% of Boomers and 20% of Aussies aged over 70.

It revealed crypto ownership in Australia has pretty much flatlined over the past year with around 20% of respondents saying they own crypto, similar to the figure from last year’s survey. This sideways movement may be down to a lack of trust in digital assets — the survey found trust in crypto has worsened since last year’s survey (net lack of trust rose to 60% from 57%). 

Gen Z are substantially more likely to hold crypto than older generations like Boomers, with around a third (34%) of Gen Zs saying they own Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

According to Swyftx CEO, Jason Titman, younger Aussies are more comfortable with digital assets than older generations and this is reflected in the numbers.

The survey results indicate that once digital assets are fully regulated in Australia, in line with traditional assets, we could see an influx of investors: 46% of respondents who don’t currently own crypto cited the reason as ‘lack of regulation.’

Related: Swyftx Releases Q3 2025 Industry Report Highlighting Key Events and Leading Market Narratives

Young Aussies See Crypto as Pathway to Home Ownership

According to Titman the survey results suggest Australia’s astronomical housing prices are playing a role in younger Aussies turning to crypto, with many potentially seeing it as a way to get a foot-hold in the property market.

“Young people are totally disconnected from the traditional Australian dream of owning their own home and bitcoin represents an opportunity [to] get ahead.” Titman said.

Crypto markets continue to mature in jurisdictions all around the world, including Australia. In September the Australian government released draft legislation that would see crypto exchanges and other digital asset platforms regulated under the Australia Financial Services License regime.

The bill would do this by creating two new categories in the Corporations Act — digital assets platforms, and tokenised custody platforms.

Related: Australia Targets Crypto ATMs in New Crackdown on Money Laundering and Scams

According to Australia’s assistant treasurer, Daniel Mulino, this final version of the legislation will “introduce a new framework for digital asset businesses in Australia. It will do so by extending existing financial services laws but in a targeted way.”

In the US there’s been significant progress in crypto regulatory reform since Donald Trump took office in January, with the stablecoin-focussed GENIUS Act passing earlier this year and the crypto market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act, which would result in broader crypto regulatory reforms, currently before the US Senate.