Banking giant Goldman Sachs determined in a recent study that 32% of family offices worldwide have exposure to digital assets, NFTs, or DeFi, while 26% have explicitly invested in cryptocurrencies.
The 2021 research results show that only 16% of wealth managers are HODLers.
Two years difference
Goldman Sachs contacted 166 family offices across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and Asia Pacific (APAC) to determine how their investment strategies have changed over the past few years.
The 2021 study estimated that 16% of respondents had invested in digital currencies, while the current figure has risen to 26%. Despite this, interest in the sector has dropped significantly: "In the digital asset ecosystem, family offices are more decisive about cryptocurrencies: the proportion of investments has risen from 16% in 2021 to 26%. However, the proportion of non-investment and uninterested in the future has risen from 39% to 62%, while those who may be interested in the future have fallen from 45% to 12%."
Goldman Sachs further revealed that 32% of participants currently have some exposure to digital assets, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized finance (DeFi), and blockchain-related funds.
The main motivation for those entering the ecosystem is belief in the power of blockchain technology (19%). 9% joined the industry to diversify their portfolio, while 8% saw digital currencies as a store of value. In addition, 8% bought Bitcoin or altcoins hoping to profit in the future or just speculate.
Most HODLers (30%) are from the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, 27% of family offices that have no crypto exposure in the space are still interested in the future.
EMEA is in the opposite corner, with only 15% of cryptocurrency investors and 79% saying they would not like to join this group.
Hong Kong and Singapore emerge as leaders
Another recent study conducted by KPMG China and Aspen Digital concluded that nearly 60% of family offices and high net worth individuals (HNWI) from Hong Kong and Singapore have invested part of their wealth in digital assets. Paul McSheaffrey, senior banking partner at KPMG China, explained: “For HNWIs and family offices, there are really big upsides, so they might think, why not put 2% or 3% of my portfolio in it and see what happens.”
The research shows that Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, are the most popular digital assets in both regions.
