Bitwise CEO: More Americans Hold Crypto Than Dogs

According to Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley, citing Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, more people in the U.S. own crypto than dogs. But is that really the case?

Benzinga checked the facts on a surprising claim made by Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley in a recent post on X (NYSE:PARA) (formerly known as Twitter):

"There are more people in the US that own crypto than own dogs."

"Bitcoin & crypto are the most popular asset that people still think is unpopular."

Overheard from @Matt_Hougan

The Bitwise CEO was apparently quoting his colleague, Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan, in the post.

The crypto skeptic narrative has been pushed back against in recent times, with Hougan himself noting that Bitcoin is now “too big to fail.”

But is Hougan’s claim about crypto being more popular than dogs actually true? Let's put on our detective hats and find out.

According to a 2024 report by Forbes Advisor, 66% of U.S. households, which equates to 86.9 million homes, own a pet. Among these households, dogs are the most popular pets, with an estimated 65.1 million households having at least one dog, followed by 46.5 million households with cats and 11.1 million households with freshwater fish.

This fact might explain why Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) and Shiba Inu (CRYPTO: SHIB) are the leading meme coins, considering both are dog-themed (or, to be more precise, Shiba Inu-themed) cryptocurrencies.

Coinweb's research indicates that 48.8 million U.S. adults own cryptocurrencies, which represents 14.36% of the adult population.

Based on these numbers, it appears that more U.S. households own a dog than adults who own cryptocurrencies. However, what about comparing individual dog owners to crypto owners?

According to Statista, the average American household had 2.51 members in 2023. Dividing the 65.1 million households with dogs by 2.51 people per household gives us 25.93 million household members who own a dog. Even if we factor in minors owning dogs, this number still falls short of the 48.8 million adults who own crypto.

But wait, there's more!

The 48.8 million U.S. adults who own crypto also outnumber the 46.5 million households that own cats. Could this be a reason why cat-themed coins, such as Popcat (CRYPTO: POPCAT), cat in a dogs world (CRYPTO: MEW) and Mog Coin (CRYPTO: MOG), are less popular than dog coins?

While correlation doesn't necessarily imply causation, it's interesting to note that there are no fish-themed meme coins in the market, considering only 11.1 million households have fish as pets.

With over 6 million unique Dogecoin addresses and 1.4 million unique SHIB holders, it's clear that dogs are making their presence felt in the crypto world.

The Verdict: Based on Benzinga's not-so-scientific research, it appears that Matt Hougan’s (alleged) claim that more Americans hold crypto than dogs is correct.