NIRS Survey Shows Americans Distrust Bitcoin for Retirement
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
finance.yahoo.com reports that a National Institute on Retirement Security survey reveals most Americans view cryptocurrency as unsuitable for their retirement savings. The poll of 1,203 US adults found that 77% consider crypto in retirement plans risky, while 46% label it very risky. Eighty percent of respondents believe the US is facing a retirement crisis, an increase from 67% in 2020.
Inflation concerns 73% of savers, and 76% fear Social Security cuts if Congress does not act. Nearly half of Americans have less than $100,000 saved, with another 18% having nothing at all. Despite regulatory shifts, 53% oppose employers offering crypto, and 84% feel Washington leaders do not understand their struggles.
Dan Doonan, NIRS executive director, noted that housing, healthcare, and debt compete with retirement savings. Traditional pensions remain favored by 76% of respondents, contrasting with the skepticism toward digital assets.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 26 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
Bitcoin trades at $79,023.75 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9%, indicating a near-even split between buyers and sellers. Short-term pressure is slightly bearish, as the 1-hour buy ratio sits at 44.7% and the 4-hour ratio at 43.0%. Volume deltas are negative across all timeframes, with -$9,605,302 in the last hour and -$13,495,762 over four hours. This negative delta means sellers are executing larger orders than buyers in these periods. The 24-hour cumulative volume delta is -$64,526,673, showing net selling pressure over the day. Despite this, spot volume remains high at $1,148,236,056 with over 4.2 million trades.
The latest daily buy ratio of 52.1% sits at the 81st percentile of the last 323 days, against a median of 49.2% - stronger buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
The current 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9% is lower than the weekly average of 51.6%, indicating reduced buying interest compared to the recent norm. Trading volume is also subdued, running at 0.54 times the weekly average. Over the past eight days, the price has risen 14.0% with a total volume delta of +$445,688,281. Today’s negative delta contrasts with the week’s net positive flow, suggesting a short-term pause in the upward trend. This represents an unusual day of net selling after six days of net buying in the preceding week.