CoinShares surveyed 2,230 affluent investors in seven countries about digital assets. Two in three hold crypto, at around ten percent of their portfolio, and only six percent invest for short-term gains. Yet few wealth managers recommend it.
Caption: Laurence Vardaxoglou (left), Associate Researcher, and Benoît Pellevoizin, Head of Marketing, presented the CoinShares Affluent Investor Crypto Report 2026 in London.
The CoinShares Affluent Investor Crypto Report 2026 was designed by Vardaxoglou Advisory in collaboration with CoinShares and covers the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden. Respondents hold at least $500,000 in investable assets excluding real estate, half of them more than $1 million, and all have made at least one investment in the past year. Kaupr attended the presentation of the report in London.
The starting point for the survey was a tension CoinShares meets every day. Its clients are wealth managers, private banks and family offices, and they are cautious about digital assets. Their end clients are not.
Only 13 percent of financial advisers actively recommend digital assets to their clients, according to CoinShares' own wealth manager survey from June. Even among advisers who see rising interest, the share is 21 percent.
– When we talk to wealth managers and regulators, they are very cautious. When we talk to the end clients, they have already invested heavily and want more. That gap was the starting point for our survey, says Benoît Pellevoizin, Head of Marketing at CoinShares.
Around 70 percent of respondents in the US, the UK, Germany and Switzerland hold digital assets. France is at 66 percent, Italy at 58 and Sweden at 54.
Digital assets make up around ten percent of the portfolio on average across all seven markets. That is on par with private equity, and slightly below commodities and real estate, both at around 15 percent.
– These are asset classes that took decades to earn their place in portfolios. Digital assets have done it in under ten years, despite liquidity issues, custody risk, hacks and a short track record, says Laurence Vardaxoglou, Associate Researcher, who led the work on the report.
Respondents were asked to place themselves in one of four investor types:
Traders are by far the smallest group in every market. They peak at 11 percent in the UK and fall as low as three percent in Sweden. On average, six percent say they invest for volatility or short-term gains.
– This contradicts the narrative of speculation that institutions and central banks hold on to. That narrative is rooted in retail investor behaviour. At this level of wealth, it does not hold, says Vardaxoglou.
The main trigger for buying and selling is macroeconomics – interest rates, inflation and changes in the global economic order. Technical analysis, news about institutional adoption and regulation rank lower.
– Digital assets are assessed in the same way as traditional assets. They have moved from the fringe to the mainstream.
57 percent say geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe make them more likely to invest in digital assets. In the US, the share is 66 percent.
77 percent believe bitcoin will play a significant role in the global financial system, and 75 percent see bitcoin as a hedge against fiat currency debasement.
– Crypto is sensitive to global events. Still, it is perceived as a safe allocation, as something that protects, says Vardaxoglou.
Bitcoin is held by 80 percent of those who own digital assets, but 89 percent of bitcoin holders also hold other assets. Ether and stablecoins are just under 60 percent, altcoins around 30 percent.
– Bitcoin is an anchor in a diversified portfolio. As more products arrive, I expect that position to diminish, as we see globally.
79 percent support more regulation of the digital asset market, rising to 88 percent in the US. In Europe, 60 to 65 percent say MiCA makes them more likely to invest.
57 percent say Donald Trump's personal endorsement of crypto makes them more likely to invest – including in Europe, where Trump otherwise polls poorly.
– European investors are able to separate his politics from his crypto policies. And it is not just a local American effect. It is read as a broader signal about the market.
55 percent prefer to invest through traditional brokerage platforms, crypto ETPs and wealth managers rather than buying directly on crypto exchanges. In the US, where CoinShares has figures from last year, the share preferring ETPs has risen 30 percentage points in a year.
69 percent would consider using a wealth manager with crypto expertise, from 59 percent in Sweden to 80 percent in the UK. Wealth managers are the most trusted source of information on digital assets in all seven markets, and 98 percent of those invested without a manager say they are willing to pay for advice.
– Many are not confident in their own decisions. Experienced wealth managers are well placed to fill that gap, says Vardaxoglou.
Investors under 45 allocate roughly twice as much to digital assets as those over 45. In the US the split is 12 versus 7 percent, in the UK 13 versus 7.
That carries weight given the wealth transfer ahead. Around $83 trillion will pass from baby boomers and Generation X to younger generations over the next two decades.
– The young are more comfortable with the volatility, more likely to increase their exposure, and they invest for ideological reasons. The trends we see now will become stronger in the years to come, says Vardaxoglou.
Sources: CoinShares, Kaupr
You have read what you can read for free. With an account you get unlimited access to all news and articles on kaupr.io — and become part of the network of investors, professionals and builders following onchain finance.
