31% of US investors buy meme coins before Bitcoin

According to Gemini’s 2025 report, 31% of new US investors purchase meme coins first before venturing into popular tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Similarly, globally, more than 30% of first-time crypto buyers buy meme coins to learn about wallets, tokenomics, and on-chain interactions before they can progress to the other top digital currencies.

Over 94% of meme coin holders invest in established assets eventually

Gemini’s study also found that around 30% of new crypto users in Australia first held meme coins, followed by 28% in the UK, 23% in Singapore, 22% in Italy, and 19% in France.

Still, over 94% of meme coin buyers ultimately invest in top coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, suggesting that meme coins serve as an on-ramp to the broader crypto-asset market.

Analysts have suggested that long-term investment stability could generally be achieved through mature digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. So, while meme coins are a good gateway asset today, it’s important to pivot to more sustainable assets.

DeFi commentator Ignas even commented recently, “Technically innovative launches are getting hype again…It’s not just your Degen monkey brain blindly aping into meme coins or simping for a new Celeb Coin – your analytical & research skills can be put to action again.” 

Meanwhile, Justin Sun, founder of Tron Blockchain and Huobi Global advisor, believes investors are drawn to meme coins because of the asset’s ability to command their attention. He argued that today’s economy revolves around attention—and memes are powerful attention magnets. He even stated, “If you get attention from everybody, you can actually control the universe.” 

Investors lean toward institutional ETFs for their crypto holdings

In addition to the growing interest in meme coins, there has been an increase in the use of institutional infrastructure. About 39% of US crypto investors hold crypto through ETFs, up from 37% in 2024. Of the 39%, 25% hold their crypto through an exchange wallet and an ETF, while only 14% solely use an ETF.

Spot crypto ETFs are an investor favorite, receiving hundreds of billions in inflows and fueling Bitcoin price surges. This May, the 11 US-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have recorded a net inflow of $5.77 billion, the highest since November 2024. BlackRock’s IBIT saw the most monthly inflows, with Bitcoin’s spot price surpassing $110000.

BlackRock even increased its Bitcoin spot ETF holdings by 25%. As of March 31, its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) holdings were at 2,123,592 shares, worth $994 million, an increase of about 25% compared to 1,691,143 shares held as of the end of last year.

The asset manager is still planning to diversify its investment into the digital asset market away from its bond-oriented portfolio. Blockstream CEO Adam Back believes the company’s interest in increasing its investments could help propel BTC prices further.