It¡¯s an oft-told anecdote littering social media: Those who invested early in cryptocurrencies have enjoyed life-changing wealth.

How much that extra cash gives them confidence to spend more ¡ª a phenomenon economists call the wealth effect ¡ª is a hot topic whenever crypto prices are surging.

A group of researchers tried to quantify it and determined that crypto bonanzas in the United States aren¡¯t exactly spent like windfalls from winning the lottery. And so far, the effect has been relatively modest on the $28 trillion American economy.