New research Australian Securities and Investments Commission (further Commission) shows that around one in four Australians aged 18 to 28 (23%), who belong to Generation Z, own cryptocurrency.
Nearly two-thirds of Generation Z respondents (63%) use social media as their primary source of financial information. Thirty percent turn to YouTube, and 18% use artificial intelligence platforms to make investment decisions. More than half trust financial experts to some extent.
Generation Z trusts financial sources. Resource moneysmart.gov.au
The regulator is concerned not so much by young people’s interest in investing as by the fact that the platforms providing this information focus on audience attraction rather than content accuracy. Algorithms reward content that garners clicks and emotional reactions, rather than technically sound information.
66% of Zoomers focus on short-term or speculative scenarios without much analysis. Almost 30% trade based on recommendations on social media. One in four Zoomers tries to select cryptocurrencies that are likely to pump, preferring the newest ones. 15% say they invest simply for the risk.
Almost three-quarters of Generation Z (72%) have seen cryptocurrency investment ads on social media, and two in five have received direct offers for investment assistance.
What they see on social media is usually shaped by algorithms designed to increase clicks and views rather than provide accurate information, complained Commissioner Alan Kirkland, worried about the risk of losing money.