Survey: 1 in 10 Crypto Participants Have Never Bought Bitcoin

Does Everyone in Crypto Hold Bitcoin?

At the time of the survey, 3 out of every 4 crypto participants (75.9%) were still holding Bitcoin even after a pullback from the current all-time high of $124,128. 

Another 14.3% were not holding any Bitcoin at the time, but previously had exposure. This group likely includes crypto participants who have fully exited their Bitcoin positions for the cycle, and participants who no longer want to allocate into Bitcoin because of risk/reward or other reasons.

The remaining 9.8% of crypto participants indicated that they have never held Bitcoin at all. In other words, nearly 1 in 10 don’t consider Bitcoin to be relevant for their crypto portfolio or needs – for example, these participants may be newcomers who were attracted into crypto by memecoins, or mainly use crypto for stablecoins.

In total, 62.9% of survey participants said that Bitcoin was their first crypto purchase, which suggests that the largest crypto remains the most common entry point into the space. Specifically, 54.6% of all survey participants responded ‘Yes’ to both questions – meaning that at least half had started their crypto journey with Bitcoin and continued to hold it. 

That said, there appears to be a significant minority who onboarded into crypto through altcoins instead, with 37.1% indicating that Bitcoin was not the first crypto they bought.

This is further substantiated when comparing across how many cycles participants have experienced in crypto: Bitcoin was the first ever crypto bought by 76.5% of crypto veterans in their third cycle or beyond, whereas only 63.2% of those in their second cycle and 54.9% of newcomers started with Bitcoin.

In other words, Bitcoin has become less likely to be the onboarding mechanism over time, as other narratives and altcoin communities have emerged and gained traction. It remains to be seen if the trend will reverse on the back of US Bitcoin ETFs and Bitcoin treasuries.

How Are Crypto Participants Buying Bitcoin?

Among the surveyed Bitcoin holders, an overwhelming majority of 92.8% said they directly buy spot Bitcoin. This includes 71.8% who exclusively buy spot Bitcoin and do not use any other methods to get exposure, which shows that direct holdings remain the most common form of exposure within the retail crypto community, given its accessibility.

In contrast, only a minority of holders use other financial instruments to get Bitcoin exposure. 17.6% of surveyed holders indicated that they have Bitcoin ETF exposure, making it slightly more popular than treasury companies which 15.2% hold. Bitcoin derivatives were the least common method among surveyed holders, with just 10.4% using it to get exposure.

Overall, Bitcoin holders mostly keep their method for getting exposure simple, with a majority 78.2% using one single type of financial instrument. Another 12.1% got their Bitcoin exposure from two different methods, while 5.1% used three types of financial instruments at once and 4.6% diversified their exposure across all four methods.

What Are the Most Popular Bitcoin Storage Methods?

41.2% of surveyed Bitcoin holders choose to leave most of their holdings on centralized exchanges (CEXs), making a custodial service the most popular storage method. Notably, over half of the participants who identified as traders mainly hold their Bitcoin on CEXs, as compared to around a third of investors and builders. This likely reflects participants’ preference for convenience over security when it comes to shorter-term Bitcoin storage.

However, there were more Bitcoin holders who choose to self-custody overall, with a combined 53.6% storing most of their Bitcoin in a hot or cold wallet. Cold wallets ranked as a close second most popular Bitcoin storage method, which 38.1% of participants mostly used. A smaller 15.5% of Bitcoin holders stored mostly on hot wallets.

Meanwhile, a minority 5.2% of surveyed Bitcoin holders got their exposure mainly through indirect holdings, such as ETFs or treasury companies. As these financial instruments become more widespread, it will be interesting to see whether this group increases.

Methodology

The study examined 2,549 crypto participants’ responses in the anonymous CoinGecko Bitcoin Survey, which ran from August 22 to September 11, 2025. Survey results should be taken as indicative only.

Among the survey participants, 68% considered themselves as crypto investors with mainly long-term holdings, 20% identified as traders with mainly shorter-term holdings, 7% as builders and 5% as sidelined spectators. In terms of how long participants had been in crypto, 38% were in their first cycle (0 to 3 years in crypto), 41% in their second cycle (4 to 7 years) and the remaining 21% of participants were veterans with 8 or more years of experience. Geographically, participants were mainly from Europe (31%), Asia (26%) and North America (22%), while the rest were in Africa, South America or Oceania.

This study is for illustrative and informational purposes only, and is not financial advice. Always do your own research and be careful when putting your money into any crypto or financial asset.

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Curious to find out more about our previous research studies & statistics? Check out this one we did on the crypto community’s 2025 Bitcoin predictions.