Digital asset fund manager survey - october 2026

Digital asset allocations rise as diversification eclipses speculation

• Digital asset allocations rose to 1.3%, from 1.2% in July, as investors shifted from equities and bonds towards alternatives rather than cash.

• Diversification now accounts for 40% of investment motivations, while speculation has fallen to fifth place, representing less than 9%.

• Bitcoin retains the strongest growth outlook by a wide margin, while Bitcoin and Ethereum remain core holdings, accounting for 47% of positioning responses.

• Altcoin preferences are shifting towards newer tokens, including Hyperliquid, SUI and Uniswap, alongside improving sentiment towards Ethereum and Solana.

The survey highlighted slightly improving outlook for Ethereum and Solana and a wide selection on new age altcoins such as Hyperliquid, Uniswap and SUI. This improved outlook for these altcoins came at the expense of multi-asset, Cardano and Bitcoin. Although the latter retained the top spot as the asset with the most compelling growth outlook by a significant margin.

Allocation to digital assets in the average survey portfolio rose to 1.3%, having risen from 1.2% in the July survey, having risen since July 2025. We can see a trend of investors having re-allocated out of equities and bonds, in favour of a broad set of alternative assets such as commodities and digital assets rather than the perceived safe haven of cash.

The largest positions remain those with the most flexible mandates, such as family offices and individual investors.

This survey saw a large swing out of the “old guard” altcoins, with the exception of Ethereum, and in to newer tokens such as SUI, Near, AAVE, Hype, Uniswap and Link commonly mentioned.

Bitcoin and Ethereum remain core positions in portfolios, comprising 47% of survey responses. Multi-asset also remains popular despite a rise in the stock picking approach we have seen over the last year.

Diversification remains the prominent reason for investing in digital assets, and has risen significantly from the last survey to be 40% of all responses, and has been steadily rising since the survey began in 2021. Speculation, once the most prominent reason, has fallen to 5th on the list, now representing less than 9% of responses.

Interestingly, since the price rises over the last quarter, we have seen an increase in those who see it as good value, although client demand has fallen significantly.

Among survey respondents who have yet to invest, regulatory concerns and corporate restrictions stubbornly remain the main barriers.

A perceived lack of fundamentals also featured regularly among the leading concerns, although this has fallen sharply over the past year. Reputational risk, meanwhile, is cited half as often as in last quarter’s survey.

Concerns over volatility have also eased, which we believe is understandable given Bitcoin’s volatility is now comparable to that of gold.

Of those who have invested, puzzlingly, volatility remains the greatest risk. This is perhaps due to the 50% drawdowns in Bitcoin experienced over the last 12 months.

Others concerns over regulations being high are not surprising given the continual stalling of the passing of the Clarity Act in the US.

Given recent rise in inflation and consequent rate hikes in the US, it isn’t surprising the those who believe the US Federal Reserve is making a policy error has fallen. Policy expectations are now an important driver of Bitcoin prices, therefore, recent hawkishness from the FED has had a detrimental impact.

ABOUT OUR SURVEY: The October 2026 Survey drew 28 responses from investors who cover ~US$642 billion of assets under management.