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Institutional appetite for crypto investments grows

Sygnum, a global digital asset banking group, has revealed the results of its annual Future Finance survey which measures and analyses the core interests, market sentiment and behavior of institutional and professional investors active in the crypto market.

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“Like the previous year, 2024 was one of new developments and watershed moments for crypto and the broader digital asset ecosystem. Among the most important is perhaps the approval and the subsequent launch of the US Bitcoin Spot ETFs, which has the potential to accelerate the institutional adoption of digital assets,” says Martin Burgherr, Sygnum Bank Chief Clients Officer. “This is why we are pleased to present Sygnum’s Future Finance 2024 survey report that highlights these new trends and sentiment shifts among institutional investors. It “takes the pulse” of the current state of the market, as well as offering a preview of the sentiment and plans for the next wave of institutional crypto market entrants.”

Conducted among over 400 respondents in 27 countries possessing an average of 10+ years of investment experience, the survey included a diverse range of investment professionals from banks, hedge funds, multi- and single-family offices, DLT foundations, funds, and asset managers. One third of the respondents are Sygnum clients and investors.

“This report tells the story of progress and calculated risk, the use of a diverse set of strategies to leverage opportunities and most of all, the continued belief in the market’s long-term potential to reshape traditional financial markets” says Lucas Schweiger, Sygnum Digital Asset Research Manager and report author.

63% of respondents assessed their risk appetite as high, with the overall number who assessed their risk appetite as high or very-high increasing from the 2023 survey. More than half of respondent portfolios had in excess of 10% allocated to digital assets, although percentages varied by investor type.

Investment Strategies

Single token investments (44%) remain the preferred strategy, followed by actively managed exposure (40%).
57% plan to increase their crypto allocations, with 31% planning to do so in the next quarter, and 32% in the next six months. Only 5% plan to decrease their allocations, and 2% remain undecided.
The 36% who plan to maintain their positions may be awaiting further market confirmation or optimal market entry timing. However, with nearly half (46%) considering additional allocations in the next six months, the recent market rally may have accelerated some of these plans.
The top motivation for investing in crypto is exposure to the crypto megatrend (62%), followed by portfolio diversification (52%) and access to a safe haven or macro hedge (45%).

Market Outlook

43% of Sygnum’s respondents signalled short term neutral market sentiment, likely due to Q3 2024’s macroeconomic uncertainty, rumours of the US government following Germany’s lead in selling seized Bitcoins, as well as rising geopolitical tensions.
56% of respondents said they expect to turn bullish within a year, with some likely already shifting from neutral to bullish after Bitcoin recently hit all-time highs.
71% expressed increased confidence in the asset class following the approval of the Bitcoin and Ether spot ETFs.

Institutional Barriers to Entry

Historically, traditional investors looking to invest in digital assets were challenged by their strict fiduciary responsibilities and investment mandates, as well as limited access to properly regulated crypto asset custodians. However as regulatory clarity is perceived to be on the rise (69%), asset volatility (43%) has become the biggest barrier to institutional crypto adoption.

Concerns about security and custody remain high (39%).
81% said that better information would lead them to invest more. This suggests that investors may be turning their attention from regulatory matters to market specific risks, strategic planning and technology deep dives.

Crypto Investment Preferences

The highest area of interest is Layer-1 (76%), fueled by growth in Bitcoin, Solana and other scalable protocols.
Web3 infrastructure has emerged as the second most attractive crypto investment area (55%), propelled by the growth of Decentralised Physical Infrastructure (DePIN) and AI.
DeFi has seen declining interest (33%), possibly due to regulatory challenges, security concerns and the more than USD 2.1 billion lost to vulnerabilities and hacks in 2024. Although traditional yields outperformed DeFi during high interest rate periods, DeFi’s attraction for investors may improve with changed market conditions.
Direct token investments are the most attractive investment product (72%), followed by a rise in demand for ETPs/ETFs (47%) following the US Bitcoin and Ether spot ETF launches.
In the 2023 survey, real estate was the most popular tokenized asset of interest. This has now been overtaken by equity (44%), corporate bonds (41%), and mutual funds (40%). Real estate has now dropped to seventh place, potentially due to the inherent complexity and limited development of these assets to date.

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