When it comes to US investors, the younger, the earlier: Gen Z began investing at an average age of 19, compared with 25 for Millennials, 32 for Gen X, and 35 for Baby Boomers. Assuming a retirement age of 65, that gives Gen Z a 46-year investment horizon—more than 50% longer than the 30-year horizon for Boomers when they started investing (Exhibit 1). Starting earlier is typically considered a smart move due to the benefits of compounding, but it may also expand an investor’s capacity to take risks.
An investor’s economic wealth can be thought of as the combination of financial capital—assets already accumulated—and labor capital, or the value of future earnings. Early in life, labor traditionally represents a much larger share of one’s total wealth. As investors age, future earnings decline while accumulated financial assets generally rise. A longer investment horizon therefore provides more time to recover from periods of volatility and more future income with which to continue saving and investing. In that sense, starting earlier expands an investor’s lifetime risk budget.
Digital assets may fit particularly well within a longer-horizon, more-flexible framework because the asset class’s return profile is both volatile and potentially asymmetric.
For an investor starting early, the cost of near-term volatility can be less consequential than the opportunity cost of having too little exposure to assets with significant long-run upside potential. With decades to rebalance, add capital, and compound through multiple market cycles, investors who start investing early may be able to allocate more of their portfolio to digital assets than investors who start later—while keeping overall lifetime risk in balance.
Key Takeaway: Starting earlier gives investors more time to absorb volatility, potentially expanding the utility function digital assets can have in a long-term portfolio.
Exhibit 1: Gen Z has started investing early, expanding investment horizons
Related
© 2026 Grayscale. All rights reserved
All data sourced from Bloomberg as of the date of publication, unless otherwise noted.
Investments in digital assets are speculative investments that involve significant risk, including a partial or total loss of invested funds. Investments in digital assets are not suitable for any investor that cannot afford loss of the entire investment.
This information should not be relied upon as research, legal, tax or investment advice, or a recommendation regarding any products, strategies, or any investment in particular. This material is strictly for illustrative, educational, or informational purposes and is subject to change. This content does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to sell or buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal. There is not enough information contained in this content to make an investment decision and any information contained herein should not be used as a basis for this purpose. Readers are encouraged to seek guidance from qualified professionals.
Index returns are presented for illustrative purposes only and exclude management fees and expenses. Indexes are unmanaged, and investors cannot invest directly in an index. A basis point (bps) is one hundredth of one percent (e.g. one basis point = 0.01%).
Grayscale Operating, LLC and its affiliates, directors, officers, and employees may have interests, financial or otherwise, in the digital assets and/or securities discussed.
Certain of the statements contained herein may be statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on Grayscale’s views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. In addition to statements that are forward-looking by reason of context, the words “may, will, should, could, can, expects, plans, intends, anticipates, believes, estimates, predicts, potential, projected, or continue” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Grayscale assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein and you should not place undue reliance on such statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Although Grayscale has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information contained herein is accurate, no representation or warranty (including liability towards third parties), expressed or implied, is made by Grayscale as to its accuracy, reliability, or completeness. You should not make any investment decisions based on these estimates and forward-looking statements.
Specific companies, issuers, platforms, or protocols are mentioned for educational purposes only and should not be deemed a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, digital assets, or other financial instruments. Any entities mentioned do not necessarily represent current or future holdings of any Grayscale products.
All content is original and has been researched and produced by Grayscale Investments Sponsors, LLC (“Grayscale”) unless otherwise stated herein. No part of this content may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without the express consent of Grayscale.
© 2026 Grayscale. All trademarks, service marks and/or trade names (e.g., G™, GRAYSCALE®, GRAYSCALE CRYPTO SECTORS™, and GRAYSCALE INVESTMENTS®) are owned and/or registered by Grayscale.
