28 Oct 2022
Institutional interest in digital assets remains strong despite the harsh bear market
According to a recent Fidelity survey, institutional interest in digital assets remains strong despite the harsh bear market.
Fidelity published its annual institutional investor study this week. This is the fourth consecutive edition of Fidelity’s digital asset survey, with all following a similar methodology. The survey results may be slightly skewed towards an overrepresentation of positive digital asset bias. We view this as likely due to Fidelity’s prolonged positive presence in the digital asset space and, thus, Fidelity clients being exposed more frequently to digital asset-related research and commentary. Still – given the survey’s unchanged methodology and consistent sample size, the results remain telling related to the institutional presence in the space.
The number of respondents indicating that they held digital assets has increased from 52% to 58% in the last year. This is impressive, given the rough state of the markets in the period. Back in 2019, 22% of respondents indicated digital asset exposure.
The number of investors indicating that digital assets should have a place in investment portfolios grew from 80% to 81% in the last year. The muted growth is likely caused by the growing correlations, with 25% of respondents citing the uncorrelated state of digital assets as an appealing feature, down from 37% last year.
Further, the number of respondents indicating that they plan to buy or invest in digital assets grew from 71% in 2021 to 74% today.
Overall, this survey indicates that institutional investors remain positive towards digital assets, with interest staying on a growing trend. This aligns with recent pushes from well-established traditional finance behemoths such as BlackRock, Schwab, Citadel, BNY Mellon, and Nasdaq in the space.