The first Bitstamp Crypto Pulse survey—a global survey analyzing trust and adoption in crypto—found 70% of institutions are very likely to recommend crypto as an asset class, while 71% of institutional respondents have “high trust” in crypto as an investment. The data comes from a survey of more than 28,615 respondents, including 5,502 senior institutional investment strategy decision makers and 23,113 retail investors, from 23 countries.
“The adoption of crypto and other digital assets is advancing at an unprecedented rate,” said Julian Sawyer, Bitstamp’s CEO. “In the last few years, cryptocurrencies have moved from the outskirts of the financial ecosystem to find themselves front and center of mainstream investing, with many of the largest trading venues in the world now catering to both retail and institutional crypto needs.”
Roughly 80% of institutional respondents believe that crypto will become more popular as an asset class— potentially overtaking traditional investment types such as stocks, shares and individual savings accounts. The adoption of crypto is set to increase, as 72% of respondents said they will increase investment in cryptocurrency, and 32% are looking to add more crypto investments into their portfolio. Institutional understanding of crypto is also increasing, as one-third of survey respondents said they will focus on learning more about crypto while another third said they will expand their knowledge base of crypto for their own company and clients. Institutions are firmly engaged in crypto, with respondents noting high trading volumes: 28% trade every day and 90% trade every month.
From a trust perspective, 71% of institutional respondents see crypto as trustworthy, with 20% saying it is not. Trust in crypto is still behind some more traditional investment, such as property (82%), and shares and stocks (80%).Trust at a global level in crypto is primarily driven by developing countries, where trust in the traditional financial system is low. In emerging markets, 82% say crypto is more trustworthy versus shares and stocks and ISAs, which sees trust levels at 80%.
Responses from Latin America show crypto as the third most trusted investment vehicle for institutional investors (81%)—just behind basic savings accounts (83%) and property (88%). Developed financial markets in the United States and Europe reflect a more conservative approach to crypto, with 63% of respondents stating that they trust crypto; behind shares and stocks (77%) and high-return savings accounts (71%).
“We’ve seen interest propel in the years since the pandemic, and crypto is now part of the wider conversation in global macro-economic matters,” Sawyer added. “Our survey shows something we have advocated over a long time: Talking about survival of digital assets is firmly over. The question is now about evolution.”
