Crypto World

74% of institutional investors plan to add to crypto in 2026

Published

5 hours ago

19 March 2026

Crypto VC Funding Reaches $244M as Mesh Leads

A Coinbase–EY survey of 351 institutions finds 74% expect crypto prices to rise and 73% plan to increase allocations, with stablecoins and tokenisation driving the next wave.

Summary

A January 2026 Coinbase and EY-Parthenon survey of 351 institutions found 74% expect crypto prices to rise and 73% plan to increase allocations this year.
Respondents now favour ETPs and other regulated vehicles for exposure, while 83% already use or plan to use stablecoins and view the GENIUS Act as a key catalyst.
Sixty-three percent are interested in tokenised assets and 61% see tokenisation reshaping market structure, even as recent volatility pushes nearly half to tighten risk and liquidity management.

Despite a brutal Wednesday for digital asset prices — Bitcoin (BTC) sliding to $72,300 and a broad market selloff driven by Middle East conflict and hot inflation data — a major new institutional survey published this week tells a strikingly different story about where the smart money is heading. A joint report by Coinbase and EY-Parthenon, based on a survey of 351 institutional investors conducted in January 2026, found that 74% of respondents expect cryptocurrency prices to rise in the future, while 73% plan to increase their digital asset allocation before the end of the year.

The findings represent a significant institutionalisation of crypto conviction. The survey, which polled decision-makers at asset managers, hedge funds, private banks, venture capital firms, family offices, and asset owners globally, found that exchange-traded products (ETPs) and other regulated instruments have now become the preferred exposure vehicle for two-thirds of respondents. That shift — from direct on-chain holdings toward regulated wrappers — reflects both the maturing product landscape and the compliance imperatives of institutional capital, following the landmark approval and uptake of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in the U.S. over the past two years.

When asked about the primary obstacle to further institutional engagement, more than three-quarters of respondents pointed to market structure regulation as the issue requiring the most urgent clarification. This finding echoes the prior year’s survey, in which 52% of respondents named regulatory uncertainty as their top concern and 68% identified greater regulatory clarity as the single most important catalyst for the industry’s next growth phase.

The regulatory landscape has shifted materially since then. The GENIUS Act — signed into law by President Trump on July 18, 2025 — established the first comprehensive federal framework for payment stablecoins in the United States, introducing 1:1 reserve mandates, licensing requirements, and federal preemption over conflicting state regimes. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency subsequently issued proposed implementing regulations in March 2026, with a public comment deadline of May 1. The survey’s findings suggest institutions are watching this process closely: 83% of respondents said they have used or plan to use stablecoins for payments and financial management, while 83% also said passage of the GENIUS Act would enhance financial institutions’ willingness to participate in the stablecoin market.

The appetite for tokenised assets is similarly broad. Sixty-three percent of respondents expressed interest in tokenised assets, and 61% expect tokenisation to have a significant impact on market structure — a finding consistent with the rapid growth of real-world asset (RWA) tokenisation across DeFi platforms, where Morpho alone saw RWA deposits grow from near zero to $400 million over the course of 2025.

Amid widespread bullishness, the survey also captured the scars of recent volatility. Nearly half of respondents — 49% — said that recent market fluctuations had led them to place greater emphasis on risk management, liquidity, and position control, rather than reducing their holdings outright. That distinction matters: institutional capital appears to be recalibrating its approach rather than retreating, a posture that may prove consequential as markets navigate the current geopolitical shock.

The juxtaposition between Wednesday’s price action and the survey’s conclusions encapsulates the central tension facing institutional crypto allocators in 2026: near-term macro headwinds severe enough to test conviction, set against a structural adoption thesis that continues to broaden quarter by quarter.

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Crypto World

Retail ETF Frenzy Fueled Silver and Gold Boom and Bust

Published

3 minutes ago

19 March 2026

NewsAdmin

Retail ETF Frenzy Fueled Silver and Gold Boom and Bust

Retail gold purchases have tripled over the last six months, while Wall Street selling has accelerated over the past four months, according to data from the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

“Retail-driven exuberance,” increasingly channeled through exchange-traded funds (ETFs), “set the stage for outsize moves,” continuing the precious metal rally from 2025, reported the BIS in a quarterly review released on Monday.

Since Q2 2025, retail investors have bought around $70 billion in gold ETFs, and these purchases have more than tripled over the last six months, observed the Kobeissi Letter, citing BIS data on Thursday.

“Retail investors are all-in on precious metals,” it noted.

Gold has surged 60% over the past year, and some crypto proponents have speculated it has come at the expense of Bitcoin, which some argue competes with gold as a store-of-value asset.

BIS data shows cumulative retail inflows effectively tripled from around $20 billion to roughly $60 billion over the six months from late Q3 2025 to the end of Q1 2026.

However, institutional selling started around mid-November and accelerated after the precious metals market began to correct in January, according to the data.

*Retail has been buying gold funds while institutions have been selling. Source:* *BIS*

Leveraged liquidations amplified commodity drops

Bitcoin (BTC) is not the only asset susceptible to high volatility from overleveraged positions.

Prices of precious metals such as gold and silver reversed abruptly in late January and February 2026, while the “daily rebalancing of leveraged ETFs and margin‑triggered liquidations amplified the swings,” particularly in silver, BIS reported.

Smaller speculative derivatives traders, or “non-reportables,” had built up heavily leveraged long positions in silver heading into the crash, it added.

Gold prices are currently down 9% from their late January all-time high, while silver has slumped much harder, dropping 34% over the same period, according to GoldPrice.

The abrupt price drop and the spike in precious metal volatility “point to the role of retail flows, and amplification of price moves due to forced sales by leveraged ETFs, trend-following investors such as commodity trading advisers, and margin dynamics,” BIS stated.

Dollar strengthens as commodities and crypto weakens

The bank concluded that gold and silver declines coincided with changing expectations around US monetary policy and the performance of the US dollar, which has gained 4.7% since late January, according to the DXY dollar index.

“The precious metals crash seemingly coincided with shifts in expectations about the US dollar and the path of monetary policy, but it was hard to square with broader changes in fundamentals.”

Meanwhile, crypto markets have fallen around 43% from their October total capitalization peak as retail sentiment and interest in digital assets have dried up and remain at bear market levels.