Original title: (Singapore investors more likely than those in other regions to increase their crypto allocation in 2025: Sygnum survey)
Source: Sygnum survey
Compiled by: Wenser, Odaily Planet Daily
Editor's note: As a "crypto hub" in recent years, perhaps due to the painful experiences of Singaporean investment institutions during the previous FTX incident, the Singapore government has maintained a "friendly yet cautious" attitude towards crypto regulation.
Nevertheless, the penetration of cryptocurrency in Singapore is gradually increasing, with more and more institutional and individual investors turning their attention to cryptocurrency outside the traditional financial sector. Following Trump's victory in the U.S. presidential election, a series of potential measures such as Bitcoin strategic reserves have laid a good foundation for the development of the cryptocurrency market. In the current and near future, as economic globalization and the mainstreaming of cryptocurrency accelerate, Singapore may become the "hotbed of crypto funds" by 2025.
The following is a financial survey recently released by the well-known asset management group Sygnum, compiled and edited by Odaily Planet Daily, with some content omitted.
A major survey of the current state of Singaporean investors: 57% of institutional investors plan to increase long-term holdings
Recently, the global digital asset banking group Sygnum announced the results of its annual future finance survey. This survey measures and analyzes the core interests, market sentiment, and trading behaviors of institutional and professional investors active in the cryptocurrency market. The survey participants included over 400 respondents with an average of more than 10 years of investment experience, including Sygnum's institutional clients, investors, and diversified investment professionals from banks, hedge funds, multi-family and single-family offices, DLT foundations, funds, and asset managers. A total of 121 local respondents from Singapore participated in the survey.
Gerald Goh, co-founder and CEO of Sygnum Asia Pacific, stated: "The year 2024 is filled with positive new developments and countless important moments for cryptocurrency and the broader digital asset ecosystem. Perhaps the most significant is the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission—this has greatly accelerated the adoption of digital assets by institutional investors."
The survey shows that Singaporean investors have a high enthusiasm for crypto assets: 57% of investors plan to increase their long-term allocation to crypto assets, above the survey average of 47%. Notably, 30% of investors view unclear regulatory conditions as a major entry barrier, while 45% of respondents mentioned security and custody issues as major considerations, indicating that the development of the crypto ecosystem has benefited from regulatory progress. In light of this, the report aims to highlight the new trends and sentiment changes among institutional investors, reflecting both the current market conditions and providing insights for the future development of the blockchain industry.
The top three reasons for investing in digital assets
Regarding investment strategies, the survey shows that the majority of Singaporean institutional and professional investors are increasing their investments in cryptocurrency, with 57% of respondents planning to increase their allocation to crypto assets. This is mainly driven by long-term confidence in the major trends of cryptocurrency and its diversification potential, even amid high market volatility.
The primary reason for investing in cryptocurrency is the desire to tap into the major trends in cryptocurrency (56%), followed by portfolio diversification (41%) and return on investment (39%);
Even amid significant market volatility, 57% of respondents still plan to increase their cryptocurrency allocation; 65% indicated they have a higher risk tolerance for such assets;
27% of respondents plan to maintain their current holdings, with only 2.5% planning to reduce their respective holdings;
37% of respondents cited the availability of institutional products as a reason for increasing their allocations.
Additionally, another survey report indicates that 63% of respondents have a high risk appetite for crypto assets, suggesting that most respondents interested in crypto assets are generally more comfortable with their volatility. Meanwhile, 28% of respondents exhibited more cautious interest, aiming to invest from a neutral standpoint. Among the 17% of respondents who currently do not invest in cryptocurrency, most tend to have a low to medium risk tolerance and frequently mention issues of trust and asset volatility in the on-chain world. More than a quarter are willing to allocate to crypto assets in the future, while half have not yet decided to invest in this area, and 20% have no investment plans at all.
Strong demand for information on asset classes
Singaporean investors hope to obtain better information quality and a deeper understanding of digital assets.
Compared to the global average of 76%, 90% of Singaporean investors stated: "Access to quality information and a better understanding of this asset class will encourage them to increase their investments or start investing in cryptocurrency."
Institutional entry barriers
It is noteworthy that the report also indicates that although regulatory clarity has improved, security and custody issues are now the biggest obstacles for Singaporean institutions adopting cryptocurrency, with 45% of respondents choosing this issue as a major barrier; lack of effective information and insufficient understanding accounted for 41%, while asset volatility ranked third, also at 41%. The significant improvement in regulatory clarity brought by the U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF and Ethereum spot ETF has injected considerable confidence for more institutions to join the investment ranks, but market education remains crucial.
75% of respondents indicated that they believe regulatory clarity has improved;
73% of respondents believe that cryptocurrency ETFs have increased their confidence in this asset class;
90% of respondents stated that more comprehensive and complete information would encourage them to increase their investments.
Cryptocurrency investment preferences
L1 public chains and Web3 infrastructure are currently the most attractive areas for cryptocurrency investment, mainly driven by trends such as DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) and AI.
The top three areas of interest for Singaporean investors are L1 (71%), Web3 infrastructure (56%), and L2 (41%);
Respondents ranked the top asset classes with tokenization potential as mutual funds (47%), corporate bonds (47%), equities (40%), and hedge funds (39%);
In terms of investment preferences, the preferred investment strategies include active management aimed at generating excess returns (41%), followed by passive income strategies (37%) and industry exposure in target growth areas (36%).
Furthermore, 91% of respondents stated that they primarily invest in blockchain protocol tokens (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum). This reflects an overwhelming preference for mature assets, which are considered to be less volatile and supported by traditional institutions. This interest also extends to other L1 public chain competitors, such as decentralized smart contract platforms and ecosystem infrastructures like Solana and BNB Chain.
Half of the respondents hold stablecoins, using their non-volatility as a risk hedging tool and as a "main ticket" to enter the cryptocurrency market. Interest in stablecoins has been growing since last year, likely due to the increasingly mature regulatory framework for existing stablecoins and the underperformance of many DApp-related tokens compared to mainstream tokens such as Bitcoin and Solana.
Notably, the composition of investment portfolios and strategies is becoming diversified: nearly 40% of respondents invest in decentralized application (DApp) tokens, 39% in NFTs, while only 13% exclusively invest in L1 protocol tokens.
Finally, the study indicates that if market conditions improve, investors planning to maintain their current allocations may increase their allocations more quickly, with 46% of investors planning to increase their allocations in the next six months, and over 60% of investors are optimistic about cryptocurrency investments in 2025.
