A research from US banking giant Goldman Sachs shows that more asset managers have invested in crypto than two years ago, but at the same time those asset managers who have no exposure to digital assets seem less interested in changing this at the moment. After a year full of all kinds of scandals within the crypto landscape, a large group seems to have been put off and have no intentions to enter the emerging industry.
Conflicting Results: Is Crypto Interest Declining?
The survey was conducted in January and February of this year and collected responses from 166 so-called family office. These are asset managers who typically work with high net worth individuals and families.
In a way, the research shows some contradictory results. On the one hand, the number of family offices with exposure to crypto has increased from 16% in 2021 to a current number of 26%. On the other hand, the group of non-investors seems to have much less interest in venturing into the crypto world.
Two years ago, a total of 39% of those who had not invested in crypto at the time of the survey had expressed no interest in doing so in the future. In the recent survey, no less than 62% of this group indicated that they will not invest in crypto in the future.
In addition to this significant increase, the number of respondents who indicated that they were ”potentially interested” in cryptocurrencies had also decreased significantly. In 2021, 45% indicated that they may consider crypto in the future, but in the recent survey this was only 12%.
Those respondents who did invest in digital assets broadly cited their belief in blockchain technology as the main reason for doing so.
Has 2022 scared off asset managers?
The difference between the times when the research was carried out is, of course, large. In 2021, the bull market was in full swing and bitcoin (BTC) and many altcoins have their all time high put down. In the most recent survey, the various scandals and subsequent price falls of the past year are fresh in the mind.
The dramatic collapse of Terra (LUNA) and the list of bankruptcies, with the demise of the huge crypto exchange FTX as the nadir, are likely why some of these asset managers prefer to stay on the sidelines.