2026 Institutional Investor Digital Assets Survey: Volatility Drives Discipline, Not Retreat (EY)

Summary

• The January 2026 survey covered 351 institutional decision-makers, and 74% expect crypto prices to rise over the next 12 months.p.3
• 73% of respondents plan to increase their allocations to digital assets in 2026.p.6
• Two-thirds (66%) of digital asset investors get exposure via spot crypto ETFs/ETPs, and 81% prefer spot exposure via a registered vehicle.p.6
• 49% of investors said recent market volatility strengthened their firm's emphasis on risk management, liquidity and position sizing.p.6
• 66% of investors cited regulatory compliance as a key factor in choosing a custodian in 2026, versus 25% in 2025.p.21
• 86% of respondents already use or are interested in stablecoins, with T+0 securities settlement (88%) the leading use case.p.24
• 63% of respondents are very interested in investing in tokenized assets, up from 57%.p.27

Key insights

1. The proportion of firms allocating more than 5% of AUM to digital assets is expected to rise from 18% to 29% by the end of 2026.p.16
2. 78% of investors see market structure as the area most in need of increased regulatory clarity.p.6
3. In January 2025, 79% of respondents expected cryptocurrency prices to trend higher, slightly decreasing to 74% in January 2026.p.9
4. The main driver of planned allocation increases is greater regulatory clarity and confidence in compliance frameworks (65%).p.14
5. Security and key-signing importance in custody selection jumped from 8% in 2025 to 66% in 2026.p.21
6. 61% of respondents currently invested in digital assets use more than one custodian, while 36% use a single custodian.p.20
7. Among firms using stablecoins, 60% cite increased focus on counterparty and custody risk.p.25
8. 56% of respondents expect to engage with DeFi protocols by 2028, with 13% already engaging and 43% planning to.p.26
9. 61% of respondents expect tokenization of traditional securities to have a significant impact on market structure.p.28