McKinsey & Co. released its annual global wealth report this week, tallying a $40 trillion increase in household net worth for 2025. The consulting firm's data covers stocks, bonds, real estate, and cash — but not a single line on cryptocurrency. For an industry that often touts itself as the future of finance, the omission is a cold splash of reality.
What the report covers
The McKinsey report, published July 15, tracks household wealth across 50 countries. It found that total global net worth hit $650 trillion, driven largely by rising equity markets and home prices. The firm's analysts broke down gains by asset class and region, with North America and Europe accounting for the bulk of the increase. Crypto assets, despite their volatility and occasional headlines, didn't make the cut.
Why crypto was left out
McKinsey's methodology focuses on assets that are widely held and reliably measured by national statistical agencies. Cryptocurrencies, while growing in adoption, still represent a tiny fraction of global household portfolios. The report's authors noted that even if all crypto holdings were counted, they would amount to less than 1% of total wealth — a rounding error in a $650 trillion pie. The omission isn't an oversight; it's a statement about scale.
What this means for crypto's narrative
For years, crypto advocates have argued that digital assets are becoming mainstream. A $40 trillion wealth gain that ignores them entirely suggests otherwise. The report doesn't deny crypto's existence, but it does highlight how marginal it remains in the broader financial system. That's a tough pill for an industry that has spent 2026 lobbying for regulatory clarity and institutional adoption.
This isn't the first time traditional wealth reports have skipped crypto. But the sheer size of the 2025 gain — $40 trillion — makes the absence more glaring. If crypto were truly eating the world's wealth, it would show up somewhere in McKinsey's data. It didn't. The next test will come when the Federal Reserve releases its own Survey of Consumer Finances later this year. If that survey also ignores crypto, the message will be unmistakable.
