Bitcoin Beating Good Boys: Do Really More Americans Own Crypto Than Dogs? The Benzinga Fact Check

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?

The Claim: The Bitwise CEO cited his colleague in a post on X (formerly 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

— Hunter Horsley (@HHorsley) August 22, 2024

Benzinga put on its detective hat to check the facts on this claim.

The Fact Check: According to a Forbes Advisor report, 66% of U.S. households (86.9 million homes) own a pet in 2024. Dogs are the most popular, with 65.1 million households featuring a “good boy.” 46.5 million households own cats and 11.1 million own freshwater fish.

This lends credence to the fact that Dogecoin DOGE/USD and Shiba Inu SHIB/USD are the most prominent meme coins, both of which are dog-themed (or, to be more precise, Shiba Inu-themed).

According to Coinweb research, 48.8 million U.S. adults own cryptocurrencies, representing 14.36% of the adult population.

That means more households own a dog than adults own cryptocurrencies. But what about individual dog owners compared to crypto owners?

Statista data shows that the average American household consisted of 2.51 people in 2023. 65.1 million households with dogs divided by 2.51 people per household yields 25.93 million household members owning a dog. Ignoring the fact that minors may be owning a dog, this is still far behind the 48.8 million adults owning crypto.

But there is more.

48.8 million U.S. adults own crypto also outnumbers the 46.5 million households owning cats. Does that explain why cat-themed coins like Popcat POPCAT/USD, cat in a dogs world MEW/USD and Mog Coin MOG/USD are less popular than dog coins?

Correlation may not be causation, but it is telling that there is no fish-themed meme coin on the market, considering only 11.1 million households own fish as pets.

With over 6 million unique Dogecoin addresses and 1.4 million unique SHIB holders, dogs are flexing their teeth in the crypto world.

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

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Image created using artificial intelligence with Midjourney.