More than 1 in 4 young American adults are invested in cryptocurrency — and it's people under 25 who express the most excitement about everything from electric vehicles to smart home technology, an Axios-Momentive poll found.

• The poll was conducted in conjunction with Axios’ inaugural What’s Next Summit today. (Register here to watch virtually.)

Why it matters: Young consumers' enthusiasm about trending tech is reshaping mass-market preferences and lifting society toward a more sustainable, convenient and connected future.

• Whatever preferences older folks declare, it's what the younger cohorts want that will shape things in the longer term.
• 7 out of 10 young adults say they'd drive an electric car if they could afford it.
• More than half of 18- to 24-year-olds want drones to deliver to their homes. (Older people are more skittish.)
• 67% of Gen Z would be pumped to live in a smart city, and 63% want smart devices for their homes.
• Young people are leading the charge toward micromobility: 82% of 18- to 24-year-olds support allowing electric scooters, e-bikes and e-skateboards in public places.

Driving the news: Axios and Momentive — the makers of Survey Monkey — conducted an online poll March 23-25 among a national sample of 2,553 adults about work and lifestyle trends. Some findings:

• Everyone is "meh" on the metaverse: 60% of respondents of all ages weren't familiar with the term, which refers to a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time digital 3D world.
• Financial fears persist: 73% of adults worry that today's younger workers won't be able to save enough to retire comfortably.
• Not everyone has bitcoin FOMO: 34% say it's too risky to invest in, and/or the currency is susceptible to fraud.
• Most people are "over" the traditional 9-to-5 office: 66% of adults say that both office and remote work will coexist.
• The Great Resignation is ongoing: 17% of employed adults said they had quit for a different job in the last year, and 26% said they've considered doing so.

What they're saying: "Young people are kind of dragging the rest of us forward," says Laura Wronski, research director at Momentive. "They're more tech-savvy, more tech-friendly, more techno-optimists."

Methodology: The Axios-Momentive online poll was conducted March 23-25, 2022, among a national sample of 2,553 adults. Respondents were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the Momentive platform each day. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the demographic composition of the United States age 18 and over.