A CoinShares survey with Vardaxoglou Advisory put the question to the clients themselves. Between 11 May and 5 June 2026, 2,230 high-net-worth individuals across the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland, all with at least $500,000 in investable assets, were asked how they invest in digital assets, why, and what they want from their wealth manager. It is one of the largest surveys of affluent investors ever conducted on the asset class, and the counterpart to the CoinShares and Citywire survey of 261 European wealth managers published earlier this year.
What the data shows
- Adoption is a majority behaviour, at an institutional weight. More than half of affluent investors hold digital assets in every market surveyed, rising to around 70% in the US, UK, Germany and Switzerland. Among holders, allocations cluster tightly at around 10% of the portfolio, comparable to what investors hold in private equity. The conviction behind that is explicit, with 77% agreeing Bitcoin will play a significant role in the future global financial system and 79% seeing it as a reliable long-term store of value. In five markets, more than 85% of holders plan to increase exposure in 2026, a position that held through February’s downturn.
- Strategic portfolio logic, not speculation, drives the allocation. Among affluent investors who hold digital assets, long-term capital appreciation and portfolio diversification are the single biggest motivation, cited by around four in ten. Interest in the technology itself ranks second, and speculation sits well below both. Access is institutionalising in step, with ETPs, brokerage platforms and custodial management taking 55% of preference against 45% for direct exchanges. In the earlier Citywire survey, advisers named the speculative nature of crypto (52%) as a leading reason clients hesitate. Their clients’ own stated reasons look rather different.
- Advisers are the most trusted voice, and the demand is not yet met. Wealth managers are the most trusted source of digital asset information in every market surveyed, chosen by over 50% on average. Yet 88% of affluent investors say they lack the knowledge to invest with full confidence, and between 27% and 44% of holders want an adviser on digital assets but do not have one. Of those, 98% would pay for the service. What they want is access to compliant vehicles and allocation advice, not education, which ranks relatively low in most markets.
- Decisions are driven by macro, and investors want more regulation. Economic factors such as interest rates (47%) and structural shifts in the global economic order (41%) outrank technical analysis (36%) in every market. Affluent investors now assess crypto much as they assess equities or commodities, which moves the question away from crypto expertise and towards portfolio judgement. Regulation reinforces the point: nearly four in five support tighter rules for the asset class, and the US Administration’s pro-crypto agenda registers as a stronger legitimising signal than MiCA.
- The generational gap points one way. Ahead of an estimated $84trn wealth transfer, investors aged 18 to 44 allocate roughly double the portfolio share to digital assets of those aged 45 and over in the US, UK, Italy and Sweden, and are more likely to increase exposure in 2026 in every market. They are also around 20 points more likely to seek out a crypto-expert adviser in the US, UK and Germany, and more willing to pay a premium for it. The clients who will inherit this capital are already choosing on this basis.
The full report includes country-by-country breakdowns for all seven markets, generational splits, and detailed analysis of what HNWIs expect from their wealth manager.