A global surge in crypto millionaires is redrawing the wealth map as older investors are watching their strategies age out

When 24-year-old Toronto developer Lucas Miller bought his first fraction of Bitcoin in 2020, he didn’t think he was investing — he was “just testing code.”

Today, Lucas runs a small NFT design studio that earns in Ethereum and converts profits into stablecoins. He’s part of a growing cohort of Canadians under 30 who are quietly amassing real wealth — not in stocks or property, but on the blockchain.

While Lucas is a fictionalized person, he is a representative of a growing number of Gen Z investors whose wealth isn’t measured in real estate or retirement accounts but through digital, mobile and often anonymous accounts. Their portfolios live on decentralized exchanges rather than Bay Street brokerages.

As the Henley & Partners Crypto Wealth Report 2025 shows, there are now 241,700 crypto millionaires worldwide, a 40% increase in just 12 months (1). And while most early adopters were Millennials and Gen X tech enthusiasts, Gen Z is now the fastest-growing group of new crypto millionaires, particularly in countries like Canada, Singapore, and the UAE.

A generational shift in how wealth is built

Boomers grew their wealth through home equity. Gen X did it through mutual funds and RRSPs. Gen Z is doing it through code.

Unlike older generations, who trust institutions to manage and safeguard wealth, Gen Z’s financial culture is built around decentralization and self-custody — the idea that you own your money directly, without a middleman.

As the Digital Offshore report puts it, blockchain has “democratized capabilities once reserved for the ultra-wealthy,” giving anyone with an internet connection access to the same financial tools global corporations use to shift capital across borders.

To Gen Z, financial freedom is about profit, of course, but it's also about autonomy. They value mobility, transparency and access. In an age of rising housing costs and volatile job markets, crypto offers something traditional systems can’t: the ability to build, store, and move wealth anywhere.

Dominic Weibel, Head of Research at Bitcoin Suisse and contributor to The Crypto Wealth Report 2025, described this new mindset bluntly: “The new laws of wealth are being written in code.”

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Crypto as a wealth builder

The numbers tell the story. Crypto’s global market capitalization has surpassed US$3.3 trillion, according to The Crypto Wealth Report 2025 (2). That growth is fueling a new generation of digital entrepreneurs — many under 30 — who are leveraging blockchain not only to trade but to create.

Platforms like Coinbase, Kraken and Wealthsimple Crypto have become the on-ramps for Gen Z investors, offering easy access to Bitcoin, Ethereum and tokenized assets. But this isn’t just about speculation. Many young investors are experimenting with DeFi yield strategies, NFT royalties and tokenized business ownership — mechanisms that produce real, recurring income streams.

Dr. Niklas J.R.M. Schmidt, in The AI Crypto Boom (3), notes that AI-driven trading agents and decentralized finance platforms are “reshaping wealth creation by turning digital actors into economic participants."

For Gen Z, that means algorithms — not advisors — may soon be managing their portfolios.

The Henley Crypto Adoption Index 2025 ranks Canada 8th globally for crypto-readiness, scoring highly in innovation and infrastructure (4). Yet the report warns that without clearer tax and regulatory frameworks, homegrown innovators may migrate to more crypto-friendly hubs like Malta or Dubai.

Values over volatility

Crypto’s appeal to Gen Z is as philosophical as it is financial. This generation came of age during the 2008 financial crisis, climate anxiety and the COVID-era job collapse. Distrust in traditional finance runs deep.

As Group Head of Private Clients at Henley & Partners, Dominic Volek, explains (5) that today’s investors are drawn to jurisdictions “competing on regulatory clarity and cryptocurrency-friendly legislation, not secrecy.”

That same desire for transparency and control is what drives Gen Z’s enthusiasm for blockchain. They see decentralized finance as a social and moral innovation — one that promotes openness, reduces gatekeeping and gives individuals more power over their economic lives.

But that empowerment also comes with risks. Volatility, hacks, and a lack of diversification are common pitfalls. Without financial education and risk management, Gen Z’s digital fortunes can disappear as fast as they appear. As the Crypto Banking Report 2025 warns, custody and security remain “paramount,” especially as investors blend blockchain tools with traditional safeguards.

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The challenge for wealth managers

This generational shift is forcing financial advisors, estate planners and tax professionals to rethink their approach to wealth.

A 24-year-old who made a fortune from NFTs doesn’t fit the traditional client mold. Their assets are tokenized, held across multiple wallets and sometimes anonymous. Their heirs may not even know how to access them without the right passphrases.

For wealth managers, that means developing crypto-integrated estate plans, where private keys and digital wallets are securely documented and passed down alongside traditional assets. It also means learning to speak a new financial language — one rooted in code, not cash flow statements.

As Mike Foy, CFO of AMINA Bank, noted (6): “We are at an inflection point in global wealth management. Crypto banks are now defining the next frontier.”

Forward-thinking advisors are already adapting. Some Canadian firms now offer digital-asset custody services, while others partner with fintechs to help clients diversify across crypto and traditional investments. Education is becoming as important as regulation — a point underscored in almost every report regarding crypto.

The inheritance of the future

Unlike their parents, Gen Z isn’t waiting to inherit wealth — they’re coding it.

Whether through trading bots, NFT royalties or decentralized ventures, they’re building intergenerational assets that may never exist in a bank vault or safety deposit box.

That poses challenges for regulators, accountants, and even courts, which must now define what inheritance and ownership mean in a borderless, digital economy. As Volek states: “A Bitcoin wallet exists simultaneously everywhere and nowhere, materializing into a jurisdiction only when declared.”

For Canada, this generational transformation represents both a risk and an opportunity. If regulators provide clarity and advisors embrace innovation, the next generation of Canadian millionaires may not flee to crypto havens abroad. Instead, they could help redefine how wealth is built, managed, and shared at home.

Bottom Line

Gen Z has made one thing clear: the future of wealth won’t be inherited — it will be engineered.

By merging creativity, technologyand financial independence, they’re transforming money from a static store of value into a living, programmable force.

Canada’s financial establishment can either evolve with them — or be left behind as the next generation writes its own rules of wealth creation, one line of code at a time.

Article sources

We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.

Henley & Partners: The Crypto Wealth Report 2025 (1, 2, 6); Henley & Partners: When AI Agents Become Crypto Millionaires (3); Crypto Adoption Report (4); Henley & Partners: The Digital Offshore and the Future of Cross-Border Wealth (5, 7)