60% of wealth managers plan crypto allocations

TLDR

A Bitwise survey shows about 60% of 400 wealth managers intend to add crypto exposure within the next year, but most still have no crypto allocations today.

1. The survey confirms growing interest: 60% plan allocations and expect higher prices, yet 67% currently have zero crypto exposure.
2. Wealth managers and institutions increasingly prefer regulated vehicles like spot crypto ETFs, which could channel future flows mainly into large caps.
3. The key things to watch are new crypto products on adviser platforms, evolving regulation, and whether stated intentions translate into real client allocations.

Deep Dive

1. What The Survey Really Says

Bitwises research, presented to 400 wealth managers, found that 60% plan to allocate to crypto within a year and 60% expect higher crypto prices by year-end, but 67% currently hold no crypto for clients, meaning this is mostly future intent rather than existing exposure. The same presentation notes adviser accounts with crypto rose from 22% in 2024 to 32% in 2025, and the share of advisers able to buy crypto for clients increased from 35% to 42 percent, suggesting access is slowly catching up to interest. Separate institutional investor research cited in the report shows 73% of 351 respondents plan to increase crypto allocations in 2026 and 74% expect prices to rise, reinforcing the broader institutional shift toward digital assets.

Confidence: moderate, because these are self-reported intentions from a specific survey audience, not the whole industry.

2. How This Could Affect Crypto Flows

The same research highlights a strong tilt toward regulated products: 66% of institutional respondents already hold spot crypto ETFs or exchange-traded products, 81% prefer registered vehicles, and 65% say improved regulatory clarity is the main driver for increasing holdings, according to the Bitwise survey of wealth managers and institutions. If even part of the 60% follow through on planned allocations, new flows are likely to concentrate in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and other large caps via ETFs and model portfolios, rather than direct onchain positions. For smaller tokens, the effect will be more indirect, through broader risk appetite and thematic products.

3. What To Watch Next

Three signals matter from here.

1. Product shelves: new spot crypto ETFs, multi-asset crypto funds, and tokenization products offered on mainstream advisory platforms.
2. Regulation: clearer rules around stablecoins, tokenization, and adviser use of crypto that can unlock compliance approvals.
3. Behavior: whether the current majority with no crypto exposure begin to add even small allocations in standard models, moving intentions into actual flows.

Conclusion

Wealth managers are signaling a meaningful shift toward crypto, but the gap between intention and current allocations remains large. If accessibility and regulatory clarity improve, even modest adviser allocations could sustain institutional demand for major crypto assets over the next few years.