Wealth Managers Prepare for More Crypto Allocations

Wealth managers have long kept digital assets on the fringes of their portfolios. This trend may be reversing. After a presentation by Bitwise to around 400 professionals, 60% of participants say they plan to allocate in the next twelve months. However, 67% still have none. Amid curiosity, internal constraints, and more familiar investment vehicles, crypto is gaining ground without having yet won the game. XRP, in particular, is already attracting questions.

In Brief

• Among the 400 managers surveyed after a Bitwise presentation, 60% plan to allocate within the year, while 67% remain without exposure.
• XRP generated the most questions during the presentation; its U.S. ETFs had accumulated $1.68 billion in inflows since November 2025.
• The Nickel study reveals that 84% of institutional respondents see ETPs normalizing digital assets, despite regulatory, operational, and liquidity hurdles.
• Henley & Partners counts 135,694 millionaires in digital assets worldwide, including 92,272 Bitcoin millionaires, among 742 million holders.

67% Stay Away, but 60% Prepare to Enter

Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at Bitwise, published three findings that summarize the mood quite well. Among the surveyed managers, 67% have yet to allocate anything to crypto. Within the same group, 60% believe prices will finish the year higher, and the same percentage plans to invest in the next twelve months.

However, this survey deserves its rightful place: it pertains to participants at a Bitwise presentation, not a representative sample of the entire profession. Intentions do not equate to purchase orders.

One detail nonetheless gives an idea of the topics circulating in the rooms. XRP generated more questions than the other assets presented, according to Rasmussen. Its U.S. spot ETFs had recorded eleven sessions of net inflows up to September 1, totaling around $170 million. Since November 2025, their cumulative inflows reached $1.68 billion.

Goldman Sachs, Jane Street, and Millennium Management also appear among the declared holders. These positions do not indicate why they hold these products, nor whether they are genuinely betting on a rise in XRP. For now, curiosity is measured better than conviction.

Crypto ETPs Open the Door, Old Barriers Remain

Buying a digital asset directly raises questions of custody, infrastructure, and internal procedures. ETPs precisely change this dynamic. For an investment committee accustomed to listed products, the terrain seems much less exotic.

The Nickel Digital study, conducted in July among 203 institutional investors and wealth managers, illustrates this well. 55% say they are very likely to use crypto ETPs for the first time in the next two years. And 84% believe their development will bring digital assets into traditional allocation models within three years.

Crypto ETPs are becoming an important bridge between traditional finance and digital assets. By offering familiar, transparent, and operationally simple access, they help investment committees incorporate digital assets into traditional portfolio discussions.
Anatoly Crachilov, CEO of Nickel Digital.

The door opens, without making the locks disappear. Regulatory uncertainty still hinders 52% of respondents. Market or custody risks worry 44%, while 40% cite liquidity and transaction costs.

Why do professional investors prefer listed products?

Another survey, conducted by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon among 351 institutional investors, provides a clue: 66% already held spot ETFs or crypto ETPs, and 81% preferred to access digital assets through a registered vehicle.

The choice is less about a sudden passion for acronyms than about their compatibility with existing finance. At Nickel, 28% of respondents cite the ease of obtaining a committee or board's approval as the primary reason for using these products. Liquidity and transparency follow for 21%, ahead of operational simplicity and custody at 20%.
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Expectations are also evolving. 87% of Nickel respondents believe that the growth of ETPs will stimulate demand for active managers and hedge funds. Multi-asset crypto baskets top the list of products expected to see the highest growth at 45%, just ahead of actively managed ETFs at 43%. Staking-related products gather 39%.

The market is thus moving closer to the habits of traditional management: funds, fees, committees, manager selection. Technology changes; allocation meetings, much less so.

135,694 Crypto Millionaires: A Clientele Viewed Differently by Managers

The profession is not only looking at products. It is also following a clientele that has already accumulated considerable wealth. Henley & Partners counts 135,694 crypto millionaires in its 2026 report. Among them, 92,272 hold at least one million dollars in bitcoin. The report also counts 290 individuals with 100 million dollars or more in digital assets and 23 billionaires.

In total, 742 million people would hold digital assets. This wealth has a peculiarity: it travels more easily than its owner.

Crypto may be borderless, but the families who own it are not. They continue to live, pay taxes, educate their children, and operate within national legal and regulatory systems.
Dominic Volek of Henley & Partners.

This reality also fuels competition between jurisdictions. Singapore dominates Henley's adoption index for the fourth year. The United Arab Emirates takes second place, ahead of Hong Kong and the United States. For managers, allocation now touches on the product, but also on taxation, residency, and wealth mobility.

Key Figures

• 67% of managers surveyed by Bitwise have no allocation yet.
• 60% plan an allocation within the next twelve months.
• $1.68 billion in cumulative inflows for XRP ETFs since November 2025.
• 84% of Nickel respondents anticipate normalization via ETPs within three years.
• 135,694 millionaires hold at least one million dollars in digital assets.

Traditional finance is thus getting closer to crypto, with its regulated vehicles and familiar procedures. However, this proximity does not reassure everyone. ESMA is now monitoring the bridges between the two markets and the possible contagion effects. As borders fade, the investment opportunity grows; so does the risk of a shock circulating from one universe to another.