Grayscale: $110T wealth transfer may boost crypto demand

Grayscale Investments estimates roughly $110 trillion now held by Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation will transfer to younger investors over the coming decades. The firm says a 2% reallocation of that wealth into digital assets would add about $2.2 trillion in demand.

The $110 trillion figure is drawn from wealth totals at the end of last year, with Baby Boomers controlling about $90 trillion. Grayscale says younger heirs show higher openness to cryptocurrencies, which it says could influence future portfolio allocations.

Grayscale cited survey data showing 45% of Gen Z and millennials hold crypto, compared with 18% of Gen X and Baby Boomers. The firm added that 8% of Americans aged 50 and older have ever interacted with crypto.

Grayscale said a 2% shift of the $110 trillion into crypto would create roughly $2.2 trillion of new demand, which it expects would lift valuations, deepen liquidity and encourage more institutional participation. Other forecasts cited in the report put the total intergenerational transfer near $124 trillion by 2048, with about $15 trillion for Gen Z, $46 trillion for millennials and $39 trillion for Gen X.

The report includes recent market observations. Grayscale notes Bitcoin has tracked software stocks more closely since 2024 and cites an October 2025 sell-off from highs above $126,000 that began with a liquidation of holdings.

Grayscale quoted Zach Pandl, the firm’s head of research: “We believe that the upcoming generational wealth transfer may have structural implications for crypto. As assets change hands, portfolios could shift to incorporate a higher share of crypto assets, creating a tailwind for valuations.”

The report also links potential crypto demand to the digitization and tokenization of assets and to macroeconomic imbalances such as high public-sector debt. It quotes a market maker saying steady ETF inflows or a renewed retail push may be needed for Bitcoin to regain momentum.

The report does not make short-term market forecasts and frames the generational transfer as a long-term structural factor that may influence capital allocation over decades.