Gen Z traders on Binance pushed exchange-traded funds to 25% of their equity trading volume by early August, extending a shift away from individual stocks that Binance Research also tracked in July. The same data shows Gen Z trading less often than Millennials and Gen X, while a growing share of the cohort holds positions instead of selling them.
Gen Z traders on Binance pushed ETFs to 25% of their equity trading volume by early August, Binance Research found. In July, ETFs took 21.9% of Gen Z's net equity inflows, up from 18.5% in June. Over the same stretch, the share of inflows going to individual stocks fell from 77% to 74.2%. Binance said its direct-equities data window remains too short to confirm whether the August level will hold.
Gen Z trades less often than older cohorts
Even as ETF interest grew, Gen Z traders stayed less active than older investors across the products Binance studied. On traditional finance perpetuals, Gen Z accounts averaged 13 trades per month, compared with 17 for Millennials and 16.5 for Gen X. Binance compared account activity directly rather than relying on survey responses about investment preferences.
The research also found a share of Gen Z accounts holding positions rather than trading them. 22% of Gen Z direct-equity accounts had never submitted a sell order, versus 19% for Gen X and 9% for Baby Boomers. Millennials had the largest buy-only group, at 30%. Within Gen Z's buy-only accounts, Broadcom, Tesla and the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF ranked among the leading assets by cumulative purchases.
Leveraged ETFs draw little interest
Leveraged and inverse ETFs drew little Gen Z activity even though such products can amplify gains or provide exposure to falling markets. 88.2% of Gen Z traditional finance perpetual accounts had not traded either product type, versus 84.5% for Millennials and 85.9% for Gen X. Binance did not identify whether risk concerns, awareness, or eligibility rules explained the gap.
Tokenized stock market keeps expanding
The study arrives as tokenized-equity platforms keep growing. Binance's bStocks briefly overtook Kraken-backed xStocks this week, less than two months after launching, before the two swapped places again. By Saturday, xStocks held $603 million in tokenized stock value against $535.1 million for bStocks. The two platforms accounted for about 22.3% and 19.8%, respectively, of a roughly $2.7 billion market tracked by Token Terminal. Ondo Finance remained the largest issuer at $962.2 million.
Source: crypto.news
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