OKX, a leading crypto exchange and onchain technology company, released new research finding that 90% of U.S. college students and 87% of parents believe colleges should cover crypto and blockchain as part of financial education. For many, it is a requirement rather than an elective: 27% of students and 32% of parents said it should be mandatory coursework.
The findings, part of the OKX Insights research series, point to a widening gap between what students want to learn about digital assets and where they are actually learning it
Universities are still catching up
A 2025 study in the Information Systems Education Journal reviewed 533 U.S. universities with AACSB-accredited business schools and found approximately 28% offered blockchain courses. Demand is close to universal, while just over a quarter of institutions offer formal coursework.
Students are learning elsewhere. About one-third (33%) named social media or influencers as their most important source for learning about crypto. Just 7% named school, teachers or professors, making students nearly 5x more likely to learn about digital assets from a feed than from a faculty member.
The rest of their education is scattered across financial advisors (17%), crypto platforms and apps (12%), parents or family (10%), friends or peers (10%) and traditional news (6%).
Parents follow a different path entirely. Crypto platforms and apps rank first at 21%, followed by financial advisors at 19%, social media at 17%, friends or peers at 12% and traditional news at 11%. Students are about twice as likely as parents to lean on social media, 33% versus 17%.
Students hold the knowledge edge, and both generations agree
More than half (53%) of students said college students understand crypto better than their parents do. Fifty-one percent of parents agreed. Only 14% of students and 13% of parents said parents understand it better.
That shared view is changing behavior at home. Forty-seven percent of students said they had taught a parent or guardian something about crypto or investing, and 43% of parents confirmed it happened. About 1 in 4 students said they had specifically taught their parents about crypto.
Parents are willing to act on that expertise. Fifty-six percent said they would definitely or probably let their college-aged child make a crypto transaction on their behalf, while 9% of students said they had ever done it.
Authority still sits elsewhere. Thirty-six percent of students said they should have the greatest influence over their first investment decisions, more than twice the 16% who chose their parents. Parents saw it differently: 29% said the student should lead, while 30% said parents or family should.
Crypto is treated as an investment, not a hobby
More than half (52%) of students described buying crypto as a long-term investment, compared with 6% who called it a hobby, a gap of nearly 9x. Parents tracked closely at 48% versus 9%. Both generations have moved crypto out of the entertainment column and into the portfolio column.
Acceptance comes with measure. Eighty-nine percent of students said at least some allocation to crypto could be responsible, while 11% said the appropriate allocation was zero.
The regret question was more revealing still. Asked what today’s college students would most regret not owning, 27% of students said real estate, ahead of AI and technology stocks (23%), the S&P 500 (20%) and Bitcoin (17%). Parents also ranked real estate first at 26%, with Bitcoin close behind at 24%. Real estate was the only asset that ranked first with both generations. Crypto and AI dominate the headlines. Housing still dominates the anxiety.
The paycheck itself is now in scope, too: Fifty-six percent of students said they would definitely or probably accept a job paying 20% of their salary in Bitcoin, and 62% of parents would support their college-aged child taking that arrangement, making parents slightly more permissive than students on this question.
About OKX
OKX is a fintech company known for its global crypto trading platform and its onchain wallet and marketplace. The company develops technology and applications to modernize money and markets. OKX is known for being one of the fastest and most reliable crypto and payment apps, having processed trillions of dollars in transactions by more than 150 million people around the world.
OKX is headquartered in San Jose, California, for the Americas and in Dubai for the Middle East, with regional offices in São Paulo, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Republic of Türkiye, Australia and Europe. Over the past several years, OKX has built one of the world’s most comprehensive regulatory compliant, licensed crypto companies. It holds licenses in the United States, the UAE, EEA, Singapore and Australia, as well as in other markets.
OKX is steadfastly committed to transparency and security and publishes Proof of Reserves reports on a monthly basis. To learn more about OKX, download the app or visit: okx.com.