Fed experiment finds bitcoin gains attract new crypto buyers

A Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland working paper found that bitcoin return information increased reported crypto ownership among survey participants. One treatment raised ownership by 2.41 percentage points. A bitcoin price chart raised ownership by 2.48 percentage points. Researchers surveyed 5,352 respondents from the second through fourth quarters of 2025. Researchers controlled for crypto ownership before participants received the information. The study randomly assigned participants to a control group or six information groups covering bitcoin, the S&P 500, GameStop, and the Federal Reserve's inflation forecast. The effect was strongest among people with less crypto knowledge. The treatments also increased desired crypto allocations by about 2 percentage points from a 4.3% average in the control group.