Environmental-social-governance preferences and the holding of crypto-assets

Individuals invest in ESG-assets not only because of higher expected returns but also for ethical and social considerations. Controversies surrounding the ESG footprint of crypto-assets - mainly on grounds of the energy-intensive crypto mining and their use for illegal activities - offer an interesting object of inquiry. Leveraging a unique representative survey for the Austrian population, we examine whether investors' ESG preferences can explain cross-sectional differences in individual portfolio exposure to crypto-assets. While we find no statistically significant relationship between ESG concerns of investors and the probability of holding bonds or shares, in contrast, we find a strong association between investors' ESG preferences and crypto-investment exposure.