The ECB is polishing its digital currency plan and has turned to its own research to map euro‑area crypto owners. Economist Alejandro Zamora‑Pérez matched 2022 payment‑behaviour microdata with a crypto‑ownership survey, finding that 67 % of holders are male and that owners skew younger and comfortable. Country‑level charts show Austria and Ireland topping the list, while Greece and the Baltics display a generational divide.

Zamora‑Pérez’s econometric analysis shows gender and age act as proxies for digital savviness, but crypto ownership correlates more strongly with broader investment portfolios. Holders are far more likely than the average Eurozone citizen to hold other assets and to keep sizable cash reserves. In effect, crypto behaves as a complementary store of wealth for affluent, cash‑heavy individuals.

The ECB’s digital euro specification permits balances up to €3,000 and offline transfers that reveal no party but the participants, offering privacy that exceeds Bitcoin’s ledger and cash’s fingerprints. That level of anonymity aligns with the surveyed “crypto bros”, many of whom hoard cash for privacy. Consequently, these early adopters could become the first sizable user base for a central‑bank digital currency.