80% of US and European Institutional Investors Find Cryptocurrency Appealing: Survey

A new survey of about 800 institutional investors in the U.S. and Europe shows strong cryptocurrency adoption, particularly bitcoin. About 80% of institutions said they find cryptocurrency appealing, and 60% believe cryptocurrencies have a place in their portfolios.

Crypto Appeals to 80% of Institutions Surveyed

Fidelity Digital Assets, the cryptocurrency arm of Fidelity Investments, announced Tuesday the results of a survey to better understand institutional interest and adoption of cryptocurrencies as well as key barriers to investing in them. It was conducted from November 2019 to March 2020. Fidelity Digital Assets offers a full-service, enterprise-grade platform for securing, trading and supporting cryptocurrencies.

A total of 774 institutional investors participated in the survey, 393 of which were in the U.S. while 381 were in Europe. Respondents include financial advisors, family offices, pensions, crypto and traditional hedge funds, high net worth investors, endowments, and foundations. This is the second consecutive year Fidelity has surveyed U.S. institutions but it is the first time it surveyed European investors. According to the results:

Almost 80% of institutional investors find something appealing about digital assets.

Breaking down the number, 74% of U.S. institutional investors find cryptocurrency appealing, while 82% of European investors do. “A notable contrast is that 25% of European investors find the fact that certain digital assets are free from government intervention to be appealing, whereas only 10% of investors in the U.S. feel this way,” the report further reads.

Moreover, 36% of respondents — 27% in the U.S. and 45% in Europe — revealed that they are currently invested in digital assets. Bitcoin continues to be the cryptocurrency of choice with over a quarter of respondents holding BTC while 11% have exposure to ETH. “Looking out five years, 91% of respondents who are open to exposure to digital assets in a portfolio expect to have at least 0.5% of their portfolio allocated to digital assets,” the report adds.

Three characteristics of cryptocurrencies are most compelling to both U.S. and European institutional investors. 36% of respondents said “uncorrelated to other asset classes,” 34% are compelled by innovative technology, and 33% by the high upside potential. The report notes:

The majority of institutional investors (6 in 10) feel digital assets have a place in their portfolio, though opinions vary on precisely where.

Despite growing interest among institutions, obstacles remain to cryptocurrency adoption. 53% of respondents cited price volatility as the main reason, 47% said market manipulation, and 45% said “lack of fundamentals to gauge appropriate value.”

Fidelity Digital Assets president Tom Jessop commented on the survey findings: “These results confirm a trend we are seeing in the market towards greater interest in and acceptance of digital assets as a new investable asset class. This is evident in the evolving composition of our client pipeline, which spans from crypto native funds to pensions.”

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