Institutions cite diversification, client demand for crypto (63%)
CoinShares May 2026 survey of 26 managers covering about $1.3 trillion finds 63% of institutional crypto allocations are for diversification and client demand; speculation is 15%.
A May 2026 CoinShares quarterly survey of 26 institutional managers overseeing roughly $1.3 trillion in assets found that 63% of institutional crypto allocations are motivated by diversification and client demand, while speculation accounts for 15% of allocations.
The survey shows a change from two years earlier, when speculation was the leading reason managers held digital assets. Diversification and client demand rose from 36% to 63% in that period, according to the report.
In the report, James Butterfill, head of research at CoinShares, wrote: “Two years ago, speculation was the leading reason fund managers held digital assets. Today it sits at 15%. In its place: diversification and client demand are now 63% of the allocation rationale.”
Portfolio sizes reported in the survey remain small. The weighted average allocation to digital assets fell to 0.1%, a figure CoinShares attributes to the influence of large institutional respondents in the sample. The median holding stayed at 1%, which the report identifies as a common entry allocation for new institutional investors.
Bitcoin retained the top growth outlook ranking, while sentiment shifted modestly to Ethereum and Solana compared with the prior quarter. Bitcoin and Ethereum together made up 58% of portfolio allocations reported. Legacy altcoins such as Cardano and Polkadot lost share. Respondents reported reallocations to Aave, Sui, Tron and other decentralized finance protocols.
Barriers to larger crypto allocations have changed. Corporate restrictions, including legacy IT systems and internal policies at large firms, displaced regulation as the top obstacle. Quantum-computing risk appeared more frequently in client discussions, while reputational concerns and price volatility eased relative to prior surveys but remained elevated. Most respondents were undecided on whether the U.S. Federal Reserve had made a policy error.
CoinShares noted that increasing allocations beyond the 1% median will depend on how quickly institutions resolve internal constraints such as custody arrangements, compliance processes and legacy technology systems.
