Institutional investors in Singapore are leading the charge in increasing their crypto allocations, according to Sygnum’s annual Future Finance survey.
The report revealed that 57% of Singapore respondents plan to boost their long-term crypto investments, significantly higher than the survey’s global average of 47%.
The survey, conducted in Q3 2024, gathered insights from over 400 institutional and professional investors, including 121 participants from Singapore.
Respondents, with an average of over a decade of investment experience, represented a diverse range of sectors such as banks, hedge funds, asset managers, family offices, DLT foundations, and funds.
Singapore investors cited confidence in the long-term potential of cryptocurrencies and their diversification benefits as key drivers for increased allocations.
The survey also highlighted that 56% of respondents in Singapore cited exposure to the crypto megatrend as their top reason for investing, followed by 41% pointing to portfolio diversification and 39% to yield generation.
While 27% plan to maintain their current positions, only a small fraction—2.5%—intends to reduce their exposure.
Shifting Barriers to Entry
The findings also indicate a shift in perceived barriers to institutional crypto adoption.
While security and custody concerns (45%) were cited as the primary hurdle by Singapore respondents, only 30% saw regulatory clarity as a major barrier—a decrease from previous years.
Improved regulation, coupled with the introduction of US spot Bitcoin and Ether ETFs, has boosted institutional confidence in the asset class.
Market education remains a priority, with 90% of Singapore investors expressing a need for better quality information to encourage further investments. This figure surpasses the global average of 76%.
Emerging Investment Trends
Layer-1 solutions and Web 3.0 infrastructure have emerged as the most attractive crypto investment sectors for Singapore-based investors, driven by trends such as AI and decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN).
The survey found that 71% of Singapore respondents favored Layer 1 solutions, 56% were interested in Web 3.0 infrastructure, and 41% showed interest in Layer 2 solutions.
Singapore investors also identified tokenization potential in traditional assets, with mutual funds (47%) and corporate bonds (47%) being the top areas of interest, followed by equity (40%) and hedge funds (39%).
Preferred investment strategies included actively managed exposure (41%) to generate alpha, passive market exposure (37%), and sector exposure (36%) to capture targeted growth areas.
“The survey shows that Singapore’s investors remain excited about the asset class with 57% of them planning to increase their long-term allocations, compared to the survey average of 47%.
Of note, investors here are also less likely to view the lack of regulatory clarity as a primary barrier to entry (30%). This signals that the ecosystem has benefitted from the progress we have made here on the regulatory front.”
said Gerald Goh, Co-founder and CEO APAC, Sygnum.
Bitcoin’s recent rally has added momentum to the broader crypto market.
Since Donald Trump’s re-election, Bitcoin surged to a peak of US$91,000 as of 14 November, reflecting heightened investor interest and market activity.
Some analysts now predict the cryptocurrency could reach US$100,000, further fueling optimism among investors globally.
Featured image credit: Edited from Freepik
