Institutional investors in Singapore plan to increase crypto investments in 2024: Survey

SINGAPORE – Institutional investors in Singapore view cryptocurrency as a long-term investment, and a majority of those polled have plans to increase their holdings in the new year, according to a survey by Swiss crypto bank Sygnum.

Sygnum surveyed more than 150 institutional investors on their attitudes towards crypto, of which 30 were from the Asia-Pacific, including 18 from Singapore. It found that 75 per cent of the Singapore respondents intend to increase their crypto allocations in 2024.

About 61 per cent of this group view Singapore as crypto-friendly. More than 66 per cent plan to increase their crypto allocations, with the expectation that future returns will be higher.

The survey also found that 22 per cent of the Singapore investors polled have allocated more than half of their portfolios to crypto.

Sygnum conducted the survey in the fourth quarter of 2023 and released its report on Dec 14. It found that institutional investors from Asia-Pacific currently investing in crypto do not have plans to decrease their crypto asset allocation.

In fact, 60 per cent of regional investors who are currently investing in crypto plan to increase their allocations, with 78 per cent within this group saying they will do so in the next three to six months.

Mr Gerald Goh, co-founder and chief executive of Sygnum Singapore, said in the report that the outlook for the region seems to be veering more towards the positive as the new year approaches.

“With the growing anticipation of the approval of the first Bitcoin spot ETF (exchange-traded fund) with Blackrock, strengthening fundamentals and a strong, late-year rally, the market can expect a fresh injection of opportunities and capital in the coming year.”

Bitcoin has been on a tear in 2023 on expectations that United States regulators may soon approve ETFs that invest directly in the token, widening the potential base of crypto investors.

Bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2024 also encouraged a crypto rally.

Mr Goh said Singapore and the Asia-Pacific are set to benefit from this increasingly favourable climate.

Of the total respondents, 81 per cent believe in the future of crypto, but 85 per cent say regulated service providers are key to building trust in the crypto market.

The survey was conducted shortly before the crypto market’s strong November 2023 rally.

Those polled included Sygnum’s institutional client base and equity investors, as well as investment professionals from banks, hedge funds, multi- and single-family offices, and asset managers.

Sygnum, which was incorporated in Switzerland and Singapore in 2018, launched its digital payment token brokerage service in Singapore after getting a full licence in October.