Contrary to an opinion held by some that only a handful of institutional investors are buying Bitcoin, a new survey by Fidelity Investments has revealed that at least one-third of large institutional investors hold Bitcoin in their portfolio.
Fidelity, which had itself dived into digital assets via its subsidiary Fidelity Digital Assets, conducted the survey through Greenwich Associates between November 2019 and March 2020, just before the crypto markets crashed and rebounded swiftly within a few days.
Insights from the survey covered 774 institutional investors in the U.S and Europe including family offices, traditional hedge funds, investment advisers, and pensions funds.
Interestingly, some 27% of respondents in the United States admitted that they own cryptocurrency or derivatives linked to digital assets, with that number representing a 5% increase from a year ago when 22% of U.S respondents in another Fidelity survey said they’re invested in cryptocurrency.
In Europe where Fidelity Digital Assets recently expanded into, however, the numbers are way higher with 45% of institutional investors holding cryptocurrency.
Fidelity Digital Assets President, Tom Jessop attributed the high appetite for cryptocurrency in Europe to institutional investors having to find a way around low investment yield and the negative interest rates in many countries within the region.
“Bitcoin may look more attractive because there are other assets that aren’t paying return,” Jessop said in an interview.
Institutional are buying BTC and ETH
The survey revealed the preferred investment choice for the many institutional investors who are getting involved with digital assets. Over a quarter of the respondents confirmed that they are holding Bitcoin, while 11% are banking on the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether (ETH).
Meanwhile, reports of institutional involvement with Bitcoin and digital assets has taken on increased significance in recent weeks, buoyed by the recent halving of block rewards in May.
As Coinfomania reported recently, U.S based digital assets manager, Grayscale Investments has bought 100% and more of Bitcoins issued since the halving. In an older report, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that institutions are investing $200-$400 million weekly in cryptocurrencies.
