Institutional investors are increasingly putting their money into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to a recent study. Half of the surveyed investment firms said they plan to increase their crypto holdings over the next year. Another 33% plan to keep their current investments the same.

Looking further ahead, nearly 70% of institutions expect to grow their crypto investments over the next five years. About 25% are planning major increases in their crypto portfolios. This shows that digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum are becoming a normal part of global investment strategies.

Ethereum is also gaining attention. Fund managers are three times more likely than asset owners to invest at least 5% of their portfolios in Ethereum. Smaller cryptocurrencies, meme coins, and NFTs are slowly catching on too. Around 6% of managers have at least 5% of their funds in these alternative digital assets, compared to just 1% of asset owners.

Tokenized assets are also gaining popularity. These are digital versions of real-world assets like stocks or property. Fund managers now hold about 6% of their portfolios in tokenized public assets and 5% in private ones. In contrast, asset owners only hold 1% and 2%, respectively.

Digital cash is another area seeing growth. Managers hold about 7% of their portfolios in digital cash, while asset owners only hold 2%. Despite some caution, over half of the institutions surveyed believe that by 2030, between 10% and 24% of all investments will be made through digital or tokenized assets.

Returns on crypto investments have also been strong. Bitcoin is currently the top performer for 27% of respondents, and a quarter believe it will continue to lead over the next three years. Ethereum follows closely, with 21% calling it their best performer now, and 22% expecting it to stay strong in the near future.

While tokenized assets don’t deliver the highest returns—13% for public tokens and 10% for private—they still play an important role in building balanced portfolios.

Many institutions believe that mainstream use of crypto is just around the corner. Nearly 70% think digital investing will become standard within the next decade. That’s a big jump from just 29% who believed the same last year.

There are still challenges—like cybersecurity risks, unclear regulations, and lack of education—but overall, institutional investors see crypto as a long-term opportunity. Many expect returns to improve by up to 33%, while costs could be cut by as much as 37%, thanks to blockchain technology, automation, and AI.

This trend fits with other data showing that crypto adoption is rising globally. For example, tokenized fund assets grew from $2 billion in August 2024 to over $7 billion by August 2025, according to industry reports.

In the U.S., confidence in crypto remains high. A mid-2025 study found that 80% of institutional investors planned to increase their crypto investments in 2024. Partnerships between banks and crypto companies have also grown by more than 50% since 2022.

North America continues to lead in crypto trading. Between July 2024 and June 2025, $2.3 trillion worth of crypto was traded in the region—26% of global activity—with much of it coming from large-scale institutional moves like ETFs and portfolio adjustments.

Retail investors are keeping up too. In early 2025, research showed that 28% of American adults now own some form of cryptocurrency—up from 27% the year before.

Globally, crypto ownership hit 659 million people by the end of 2024—a 13% increase from the previous year. In the U.S., data showed that by May 2025, about 17% of checking account holders had moved money into crypto accounts—up from 15% at the start of the year.

Overall, both big institutions and everyday investors are becoming more comfortable with crypto. As adoption grows and technology improves, digital assets are moving closer to becoming a regular part of how people invest around the world.