Recently, I’ve noticed a rather surreal phenomenon—many Gen Z young people in the US are simply giving up on saving for a house and are instead going all in on cryptocurrency. At first glance, it looks like young people are just messing around again, but if you think about it, the logic behind this is actually pretty heartbreaking.

To put it bluntly, this generation has really been pushed into a corner. Just look at the numbers to see how crazy it is: in 2023, the average age of US homebuyers reached 49. Forty-nine! It used to be normal to buy a house in your early thirties, but now you have to wait until almost fifty to save up for a down payment. What’s even more shocking is that 71% of Gen Z adults say they simply can’t afford a house—the highest percentage among all age groups. Home prices are skyrocketing, mortgage rates are high, and for ordinary workers, buying a house? Dream on.

Debt is also a huge problem. This generation graduates already burdened with student loans and credit card bills. Their credit card debt is 30% higher than that of millennials at the same age. Savings? What savings? They’re barely keeping up with their debts. To make matters worse, in the past few decades, US college tuition has increased more than tenfold, home prices have quadrupled, but wages? After adjusting for inflation, they’ve only gone up 18%. No matter how you do the math, it just doesn’t add up—the harder you work, the more you feel like you’re just treading water.

So you can understand why some people have started to gamble on crypto. After all, if taking the traditional route of saving for a house is basically impossible in this lifetime, why not take a shot—maybe your bike will turn into a motorcycle. Of course, this logic is risky—the volatility of the crypto market means most newbies will end up getting burned, and with little money to start with, they could end up losing even more. But on the other hand, you can’t really blame them for being impulsive. At least they’re trying to break out, and this generation really does start financial planning earlier, using social media and AI tools to learn about investing.

On a deeper level, many Gen Zers are simply redefining what “success” means. The old template of buying a house, getting married, and having kids? Forget it, maybe it’s just not for me. They care more about experiences, spiritual fulfillment, and work-life balance. In a way, it’s a form of self-adjustment.

In the end, the old saying still holds true: the rich can take their time, invest steadily, and watch their wealth snowball, while the poor have no choice but to bet everything on a single gamble, and most end up with nothing. Class immobility is painfully evident in the investment world.