Affluent investors already own crypto in large numbers, but very few appear willing to treat it like a conventional long-term wealth asset. More than 90% of affluent 18–25-year-olds surveyed by Nexo, a digital assets wealth platform, say they own some crypto, but a low 2% of them report owning it for 10-years or more. The Nexo survey, released on Sept. 23, suggests that Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) ownership does not equal conviction about long-term wealth building via cryptocurrencies. 

Nexo argues that the biggest barriers to wider crypto adoption are increasingly practical ones, including security concerns, high fees and complicated platforms. Its survey report, the "Future of Digital Wealth 2026", released last week, suggests that broader perceptions of crypto as inherently risky are becoming less of a differentiating factor among more experienced investors. Still, crypto theft remains a major industry issue, with losses continuing to mount, according to blockchain security firm CertiK.

"In our data, risk perception barely separates investors who’ve built real wealth with crypto from those who haven’t," said Iliya Kalchev, an analyst at Nexo. "What actually divides them is whether they’ve substituted crypto for a traditional asset and folded it into retirement planning," Kalchev said in a press release about their new survey. For affluent investors, the main issue is future planning with crypto, and the smoothness of operating within the existing platforms.

Nexo released their new Crypto Integration Index (CII), a 1-to-10 measure gauging how digital assets are included in an investor’s financial plans – including percentage of crypto in their overall investment portfolio, holding horizon, substitution of traditional securities with crypto products, and whether or not they hold crypto in a retirement fund. Two-thirds of affluent investors surveyed (around 67%) said they hold crypto, but the average CII score was 4.83, suggesting wealthy investors are exposed to crypto, but more as a short term speculative asset than long term strategic hold. Less than 20% of respondents said they expect crypto to be their number-one personal wealth driver over the next 10 years, ahead of salary, equities, and real estate. 

The seven-year old company has roughly $7 billion in assets under management with more than $430 billion in trades processed since inception.

Among the most crypto-integrated investors, Nexo survey respondents said the leading problems for them were security at 36%, high fees at 34%, and platform complexity at 28%.

Crypto Investing: A Generational Divide

Cryptocurrencies may increasingly have a conviction-to-integration problem, but surveys from traditional financial firms suggest the real gap is a mix of investment risk, regulation and tax complexity and institutional infrastructure, which may allude to what Nexo refers to as platform frictions. 

Among affluent investors, crypto conviction and interest have broadened, especially among younger wealthy and tech savvy investors. A Bank of America 2024 survey finds unusually strong crypto interest among younger high net worth investors, while Fidelity’s 2024 investor survey identified price volatility as the leading obstacle. Wealthier family-offices are sitting this market out. J.P. Morgan’s 2026 Global Family Office report finds 89% have no crypto exposure, alongside broader concerns about market disruption and regulatory/tax complexity.

There are investors who believe crypto has value and are willing to make it a structural part of their portfolio. But investment bank research provides some evidence for a gap between "crypto has value" and "is worth the long term hold." 

Fidelity & JPM’s Take on Crypto ‘Hodlers’

Although the study is two years old, Fidelity’s survey did ask investors not too long ago what they felt were the core obstacles to investing in cryptocurrencies.  Their sample explicitly includes affluent investors and the family offices that manage multi-million dollar portfolios. It found that 53% of investors said price volatility was the most prevalent obstacle. Still, some 65% said they planned to buy or invest in digital assets anyway.

More than one-quarter of Fidelity’s respondents said their perception of digital assets had improved over the prior year, even though Fidelity characterized 2023 as a period marked by volatility, scandals/bad actors and negative media coverage.  There is also an important timing qualification to their survey. It was conducted in 2023, before U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading in early 2024.

For JP Morgan, 89% of surveyed family offices reported no cryptocurrency exposure. Even gold was more widely held than Bitcoin. J.P. Morgan summarized the finding as evidence that family offices remain reluctant to add Bitcoin despite the narrative of it being "digital gold" (Famed crypto bear Peter Schiff disagrees with that comparison) and an inflation hedge. 

The lack of crypto exposure among the ultra wealthy (over $1 billion in AUM for JPM’s 2026 survey target) exists even though these are sophisticated investors and asset managers.  Making simple retail-style upgrades such as app usability is not a persuasive reason to get that class of investor into crypto. 

"Even with geopolitical risks rising, most family offices remain hesitant to add gold and crypto," report authors wrote.

Crypto platforms say wealthy investors no longer need convincing, just an easier way to invest in digital assets. But independent wealth surveys tell a more complicated story, with volatility and regulatory complexity still weighing on allocations even as younger millionaires embrace crypto.

Crypto has won a place in many wealthy investors’ portfolios, but not necessarily in their wealth plans, Nexo says. 

Surveys from Bank of America, Fidelity and J.P. Morgan suggests the remaining divide runs through risk tolerance, regulation uncertainty and portfolio infrastructure rather than a lack of enthusiasm for digital assets.

In a Sept. 18 interview with The Block, Kevin O’Leary said he was getting back into crypto as the bear market may be coming out of hibernation finally.

"I’m back in the saddle buying new positions, putting my bets on for this next cycle," he said, adding that he believes the next "watershed moment" will be a major stock exchange adopting blockchain infrastructure. That’s part of the Nexo argument.

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) said in an earnings call this month that "the largest (globally systemically important) banks in the world are building on our infrastructure." Armstrong’s quote shows adoption migrating from merely owning crypto toward traditional financial institutions actually using crypto infrastructure to make it easier to do so.

If today’s financial plumbing creates friction, tokenization and institutional infrastructure can remove it, Larry Fink of BlackRock wrote recently in his Chairman’s Letter.

"Half the world’s population carries a digital wallet on their phone," Fink wrote. "Imagine if that same digital wallet could also let you invest in a broad mix of companies for the long term—as easily as sending a payment. Tokenization could help accelerate that future by updating the plumbing of the financial system and making investments easier to issue, easier to trade, and easier to access."

*The writer owns Bitcoin. Artwork created by the author using Canva.

Benzinga Disclaimer: This article is from an unpaid external contributor. It does not represent Benzinga’s reporting and has not been edited for content or accuracy.