Generation Z has returned to the cryptocurrency market, according to a new research report shared by pseudonymous cryptocurrency market player Ali Charts.
Per the recently published report, Gen Z investors are showing genuine accumulation behavior, with 22% of their direct-equity accounts having only ever bought (never sold) and high net-buyer rates across tokenized stocks, direct equities, and TradFi perpetuals.
Unlike typical high-turnover trading, Gen Z is taking an even more measured approach, averaging just 13 TradFi-perpetual trades, 8 direct-equity trades, and 3 tokenized-stock trades per month.
The research also found that their risk appetite is more restrained than Millennials’, as they use leveraged and inverse products less frequently across all covered investment products.
GenZs have a bias for ETFs
The research observed a pattern pointing to a growing bias for Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). Notably, ETFs have become Gen Z’s preferred vehicle, with unleveraged ETFs rising to 21.9% of their net equity inflows in July (while single-stock demand fell) and Gen Z being the only group whose ETF holder base grew. Overall, retail participation is returning, but Gen Z is focusing on longer-term accumulation of stocks and ETFs rather than chasing memecoins, overtrading, or heavy leverage.
 
ETF-linked perpetuals have emerged as one of 2026’s fastest-growing trading categories, with cumulative volume surpassing $116 billion and accounting for 19% of all TradFi perpetual volume in July after averaging roughly 170% monthly growth over the past seven months.
The most heavily traded ETF perpetuals are SOXL ($41.97 billion), KORU ($16.15 billion), EWY ($8.43 billion), QQQ ($5.94 billion), and SPY ($1.71 billion).
Notably, Binance’s KORU perpetual trading volume reached 148% of the underlying ETF’s own volume, meaning more leveraged South Korean equity exposure was traded via the perpetual than through the traditional ETF itself. This indicates that ETF perpetuals are starting to compete with conventional ETF markets for trading activity in certain niches.
While global ETF assets stand at $23.09 trillion and current monthly ETF perpetual volume is around $100 billion, if these products eventually capture 10% of March 2026 ETF turnover, monthly volume could approach $780 billion.
Be the first to comment