Welcome to our institutional newsletter, Crypto Long Short. This week:
- OKX’s Haider Rafique Shares Unflinching Research on Generational Perspectives on Cryptocurrency Investing
- Headlines Institutions Should Watch By Francisco Rodrigues
- Skies ignore 2026 downturn On this week’s chart
-Alexandra Levis
Expert Insights
Gen Z trusts code more than bank promises
Author: Haider Rafique, OKX Global Managing Partner
It’s no secret that the banking industry is worried about cryptocurrency disruption.
After months of intense lobbying, the Senate Banking Committee has delayed a hike in market structure legislation, in part due to the bank’s stance on stablecoin yields.
But that may not matter because banks face a bigger crisis: Based on the basic principle of trust, they are completely missing out on young consumers.
Given the behavior we have observed on OKX apps around the world, we decided to conduct a study to understand the perspectives of various generations in the ever-evolving industry.
Key insights paint a clear picture: Gen Z and Millennial consumers are nearly five times more trusting of cryptocurrencies than Baby Boomers. Additionally, one in five Gen Z and Millennial consumers say they have low trust in traditional financial institutions, while nearly three-quarters (74%) of Baby Boomers maintain a high level of trust in legacy systems.
The “why” behind all of this is much deeper than viral trends and meme coins. This generation has grown up with open source code and real-time dashboards, and they now expect the same transparency from TradFi.
Now, as the world moves on the chain and everything is tokenized, it is clear that young people see the digital economy as their stock market.
TradFi is not theirs. It belongs to their parents and grandparents.
A generation shaped by institutional failure
A recent report from FINRA and the CFA Institute revealed that a sizable portion of Gen Z investors are now heavily tilted toward cryptocurrencies relative to other assets—a behavioral signal that younger Americans are willing to seek investments outside of traditional channels when they don’t believe they can earn transparency or competitive returns. Research shows that nearly 20% of Gen Z investors only Hold cryptocurrency.
For banks, this should be a wake-up call: trust is no longer something institutions can claim, but something they must demonstrate.
During the era when baby boomers were building their financial lives, institutions were the safest bet. Regulation means protection, and trust is something you first give and then question.
Gen Z’s experience is exactly the opposite. They came of age in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, saddled with high levels of student debt as adults, and now face a housing market short of millions of homes and persistent inflation.
They also endured years of a crackdown on student loan policies, changes to repayment rules and weakening borrower protections. These reversals reinforce a simple lesson: Institutional commitments can change overnight. When trust is repeatedly tested, doubt becomes rational.
Banks are not losing Gen Z to cryptocurrencies; they are losing trust.
control over commitments
This skepticism is reshaping the factors that influence trust among younger generations. For baby boomers, security means regulatory oversight and the stability of traditional institutions.
Instead, Gen Z has consistently prioritized platform security over regulation as the primary driver of trust. For Gen Z, security is more personal and technical, including direct ownership of assets, the ability to verify how a system works, and the ability to freely transfer value without an intermediary.
That’s why both Gen Z and Millennials will be 4x more optimistic about cryptocurrencies in 2026 Compared to baby boomers. They can view on-chain transactions, self-custody, audit protocols and understand the rules without having to wait for quarterly statements or updates from regulators.
Transparency is at the heart of this transformation. Baby boomers tend to equate trust with regulatory approval, but Gen Z equates trust with visibility. They want to understand how decisions are made, how risks are managed, and how incentives are aligned. They want clarity on fees, benefits and conflicts of interest, and a system that is open by default.
Traditional banks have historically struggled in this regard. Their value proposition was built in an era where limited transparency was often characterized as a feature. Now, when a generation is accustomed to real-time dashboards and proof of reserves, the idea of waiting for monthly statements feels ridiculous. Transparency has become a basic requirement for credibility.
The future of finance
Banks should ask themselves: Why do younger customers trust transparency more than traditional ones? Young Americans want regulated financial stability combined with transparency and control over digital assets, and they want products that reflect the way they interact with technology and money. Institutions that understand this shift and build for it will define the future of finance. Those who don’t will continue to watch young Americans set their sights elsewhere.
This week’s top stories
Francisco Rodriguez
Markets have fallen over the past week, with miner capitulation intensifying. That led to the biggest drop in Bitcoin mining difficulty since 2021, while businesses continue to accumulate cryptocurrencies and other assets and Russia moves closer to formalizing cryptocurrency-backed loans.
Chart of the week
Skies ignore 2026 downturn
Sky has shrugged off the 2026 market downturn, outperforming BTC, CD5 and CD20 indices by 45%, 50% and 57% year-to-date respectively. This resilience is underpinned by a consistent business model: January revenue surged 1.5x year-over-year to $19 million, driving year-to-date buybacks of $10.4 million ($8.5 million in January; $1.9 million last week) and fueling investment in premium products, pushing USDS (Sky’s stablecoin) market cap from $5.8 billion to $6.5 billion.
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Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of CoinDesk, Inc., CoinDesk Indices, or its owners and affiliates.
