Generation Z has returned to the cryptocurrency market, according to a recent research report shared by pseudonymous market player Ali Charts.
The findings indicate genuine accumulation behavior among Gen Z investors. Specifically, 22% of their direct-equity accounts have only ever bought assets and never sold. These investors also exhibit high net-buyer rates across direct equities, tokenized stocks, and TradFi perpetuals.
Rather than engaging in high-turnover trading, Gen Z is maintaining a measured approach. On average, this demographic records 13 TradFi-perpetual trades, 8 direct-equity trades, and 3 tokenized-stock trades per month. Furthermore, their overall risk appetite appears more restrained than that of Millennials, with lower utilization of leveraged and inverse products.
Bias Toward ETFs
The report highlights a growing preference for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) among Gen Z investors. Unleverage ETFs grew to account for 21.9% of their net equity inflows in July, while single-stock demand declined. Additionally, Gen Z stood out as the only demographic group whose ETF holder base expanded.
Instead of chasing memecoins, heavy leverage, or overtrading, retail participation from Gen Z is centering on the longer-term accumulation of stocks and ETFs.
Growth in ETF-Linked Perpetuals
ETF-linked perpetuals have developed into one of the fastest-growing trading categories, seeing cumulative volume surpass $116 billion. These products accounted for 19% of all TradFi perpetual volume in July, following an average monthly growth of roughly 170% over the preceding seven months.
The most heavily traded ETF perpetuals include SOXL at $41.97 billion, KORU at $16.15 billion, EWY at $8.43 billion, QQQ at $5.94 billion, and SPY at $1.71 billion.
Notably, Binance recorded KORU perpetual trading volume reaching 148% of the underlying ETF's own volume. This metric demonstrates that leveraged South Korean equity exposure traded via perpetuals surpassed the traditional ETF volume in that niche, signaling that ETF perpetuals are actively competing with conventional ETF markets.
