Young, high-earning, digitally savvy: Always-on investors are changing markets

Not so long ago, investing had a rhythm. Markets opened at 9.30am, closed at 4pm, and whatever happened in between was tomorrow’s problem. So what’s changed the rhythm of investing? A big part of the answer lies in cryptocurrency.

Since Bitcoin’s creation in 2009, crypto has traded around the clock. There is no opening bell, no after-hours pause, and access is available from anywhere at any hour. At the same time, a younger generation of Australians has grown up expecting instant access to almost everything: messaging, streaming, shopping, banking. It was only a matter of time before they expected the same from investing.

This combination of always-open markets and digitally native investors has given rise to a new kind of participant: the always-on investor.

On the CMC Invest platform, Bitcoin is currently the seventh most-traded instrument when ETFs are excluded, overtaking NVIDIA, CBA and TSLA (Tesla). Once considered a fringe trend, crypto is now helping redefine the shape of Australian retail investing.

CMC Invest data shows this shift is translating into real behaviour. The number of clients making at least one crypto trade climbed 87 per cent from 2024 to 2025, while opt-ins to access crypto increased 19 per cent year-on-year – a strong signal of growing adoption across the client base.