Why Gen Z Is Trimming Holiday Budgets 23% — and Still Coming Out Ahead With AI

SAN FRANCISCO – Dec. 15, 2025 – Gen Z thrives on sharing holiday deals, gifts, and moments online. But this year, many are finding it harder to manage money across traditional and digital worlds amid rising costs and life transitions.

Bluwhale, the AI-powered financial platform, delivers a solution embraced by Gen Z in particular: the Whale Score, a complete, real-time picture of their overall financial situation. Bluwhale’s Whale Score unites bank accounts, wallets, stablecoins, and digital assets into one dynamic, percentile-ranked score (0–1000).

“Gen Z is fully digital-native, blending everyday banking with crypto and on-chain activity,” said Han Jin, CEO of Bluwhale. “Many are feeling the squeeze from life transitions and costs, making it challenging to stay on top. Whale Score delivers a holistic view, and our AI provides smart, personalized advice — so they can enjoy the holidays without derailing long-term goals.”

Recent data underscores the Gen Z pressures: PwC’s 2025 Holiday Outlook shows Gen Z planning to cut holiday budgets by 23% — the steepest among generations — due to job market hurdles and expenses. Meanwhile, Adobe forecasts U.S. online holiday spending reaching $253.4 billion.

Nearly half of Gen Z has owned crypto or digital assets (per Gemini’s 2025 Global State of Crypto report), yet this information is often invisible to traditional tools. Bluwhale bridges the gap with on-chain integration for fuller insights.

Bluwhale’s AI agents act as “quiet holiday helpers”: recommending the best times to spend or hold, automatically shifting idle funds into earning options like yield-bearing stablecoins, and sending alerts to avoid overspending or debt — especially with popular BNPL options. Everything stays organized in one unified dashboard.

“With billions in e-commerce being spent this season, smart management is critical,” added Jin. “Bluwhale empowers Gen Z with a unified view and AI guidance to spend confidently.”

The Bluwhale app serves over 3.6 million users. Subscription tiers for advanced features launch in early 2026.

Bluwhale’s Whale Score and AI tools are available now.

About Bluwhale

By leveraging AI-driven personalization, Bluwhale helps users monetize digital identities and interactions while maintaining control of their data. Bluwhale’s financial platform integrates traditional banking data, alternative income sources, and blockchain-based assets into a unified financial score. Founded by Stanford and Berkeley machine learning experts and a former TikTok AI lead, the company is backed by $100 million in funding and is now building the fastest-growing decentralized AI layer across multiple blockchains. For more information, visit www.bluwhale.com.

Andrew Chen

I’m a crypto enthusiast with a background in finance. I’m fascinated by the potential of crypto to disrupt traditional financial systems. I’m always on the lookout for new and innovative projects in the space. I believe that crypto has the potential to create a more equitable and inclusive financial system.