Survey says: rich kids love crypto, their advisers still Googling "what is Bitcoin" 🪙

A majority of affluent investors across seven of the world's biggest economies now hold digital assets, allocating roughly 10% of their portfolios to crypto on average, according to a new CoinShares survey of 2,230 investors with at least $500,000 in investable assets in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland. Digital asset ownership ranged from 54% in Sweden to about 70% in the US, UK, Germany and Switzerland, with Bitcoin ($BTC) remaining the most widely held digital asset, owned by 80% of digital asset investors on average, and 89% of $BTC investors also holding additional digital assets.

The appetite appears to be growing rather than fading. At least 85% of current digital asset investors in five of the seven countries said they planned to increase their exposure in 2026, rising to 91% in the US, UK and Germany. The February 2026 crypto market downturn did little to change that stance: in all seven countries, more respondents said the sell-off made them more likely to invest in digital assets than less likely. Long-term appreciation and diversification were the leading reasons cited for investing in crypto, while speculation ranked last, and just 6% of respondents identified primarily as short-term traders. Younger investors allocated more to digital assets than older investors across all seven countries and roughly twice as much in four of them. Looking ahead, 77% of respondents said they believed $BTC would play a significant role in the future global financial system, and 79% supported increased regulation of digital asset markets.

The survey also highlighted a widening gap between affluent crypto holders and their financial advisers. Roughly four in 10 respondents in Switzerland, France, the US and Germany who worked with an adviser described their advisers as overly cautious about digital assets. Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and Edelman Financial Engines, said advisers remain slow adopters of digital assets, telling Cointelegraph: "Advisors are busy; they are already operating a successful practice filled with happy clients — so why bother learning something new? — and most are getting little to no encouragement from their firms." Edelman added that some firms prohibit advisers from discussing crypto or offering crypto-related investments to clients, leaving advisers unaware of which clients own crypto and potentially missing opportunities to provide tax, estate-planning and philanthropic services around those holdings. Edelman also challenged CoinShares' finding that crypto accounts for about 10% of affluent portfolios, arguing that figure is likely understated, a position CoinShares' Meltem Demirors said the firm stands behind.