China’s millennials bet on cryptocurrencies in hopes of reaching upper middle class

Speculation in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is increasingly popular among young adults in China as way to get ahead, and maybe buy a home

Even with cryptocurrency trading illegal in China, people are using the internet to buy and sell cryptocurrencies with high risk, but potential for high rewards

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Interest in cryptocurrencies has been surging among China’s young adults, even as the value of major cryptocurrencies has historically experienced swift rises and falls, making them a risky bet. Illustration: Perry Tse

Published: 1:00pm, 10 Jun 2021Updated: 11:29am, 11 Jun 2021

In the past few months, Wendy Li, a 32-year-old independent online content producer in Shenzhen and her boyfriend, Henry Yi, a 29-year-old photographer and video editor, say that they and many of their friends have been riding the wave of cryptocurrency speculation – with all of the ups and downs that come with it.

This surge of interest in cryptocurrencies has been spreading rapidly among China’s millennials and adult members of Generation Z – either through advice from friends or being convinced by online influencers – even as the value of major cryptocurrencies has historically experienced swift rises and falls, including “wild fluctuations” in the recent past.

“Besides us, many of our friends, colleagues and roommates have invested in cryptocurrencies, and the attraction is just so strong that as soon as a friend around you starts doing this, soon several friends in your circle will be tempted,” Li said.

These young Chinese urban dwellers in their twenties and thirties are following the logic of their contemporaries in the United States, South Korea and Japan – that speculating in cryptocurrencies is the last good opportunity to break through class barriers and propel themselves into the upper middle class.

In particular, those living in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub where millions of people work in the fields of technology, finance and the internet, are keen on globalisation concepts and emerging virtual assets. Skyrocketing market values and internet opinion leaders have become driving forces behind their personal dreams.

Because there are more restrictions and suppressions in China on freedom of information, foreign exchange trading and financial investment overseas than elsewhere, young Chinese investors are willing to take more risks compared with their peers in Japan and South Korea, according to economists and independent analysts who follow the digital economy.