The overall interest in digital assets continues to surge, with many investors increasingly allocating substantial portions of their investment portfolios to cryptocurrencies, undeterred by an evolving regulatory landscape. This, according to a report from KPMG.
This resilience is examined in a research study conducted by KPMG in collaboration with BTC-ECHO.
Surveying over 2,400 crypto investors across German-speaking countries, the study provides a detailed look at investment behavior and preferences, revealing a robust confidence in digital assets as a legitimate and enduring asset class.
The KPMG report highlights a striking trend: participants allocate an average of 29% of their total assets to digital investments, a clear sign of the sector’s growing mainstream traction.
Among those with over 50% of their portfolios in digital assets, 76% express a medium- to long-term commitment, planning to hold their investments for three to five years or more.
This long-term optimism underscores a belief in the enduring value of cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin and Ethereum retaining their dominance as the most popular choices.
However, the study also notes a rising interest in Solana (SOL), signaling a diversification of preferences as investors explore newer blockchain ecosystems.
Overall, as in the previous year, there continues to be “a high level of interest in cryptocurrency.”
On average, respondents invest “more than a quarter (29%) of their total assets in digital assets (2024: 27%).”
The average share of digital assets in the total assets of investors is thus rising steadily “compared to the first survey in 2022.”
Over half (61%) of investors have invested “more than 20% of their assets in digital assets.”
The majority (76%) of those who have invested “a significant proportion of their assets (over 50%) in digital assets have a medium (3 to 5 years) to long-term (over 5 years) investment horizon.”
As in the previous year, there is a high “discrepancy between registration on a crypto exchange and actual use.”
For investors, the most important criteria when selecting their preferred crypto exchanges “are security (82 per cent, unchanged from the previous year), deposit and withdrawal options (66 per cent, up 1 per cent on the previous year) and transaction costs (66 per cent, up 4 per cent on the previous year).”
The number of tradable cryptocurrencies is once again “gaining relevance compared to the previous year’s study.”
Investors still tend to accept “higher transaction costs for the security of their cryptocurrencies and services.”
Digital assets such as cryptocurrencies have “arrived in the center of society.”
There are various reasons for this, according to the report from KPMG.
On the one hand, regulations such as the European Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation provide more “clarity and transparency, while on the other hand the market is following suit.”
The first Bitcoin ETFs are being authorized in the USA and traditional financial institutions in German-speaking countries are also “offering their customers the opportunity to invest in digital assets.”
32% of investors consider their investment in digital assets “to be rather safe (previous year: -2%), while 68% say it is “rather risky” (previous year: +2%).”
According to the survey, investors consider “market manipulation (47%), regulation (57%) and financial crime (51%) to be the greatest risks.”
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, continues to “lead the portfolios of the investors surveyed in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with 90 per cent (previous year – 1 per cent).”
Ethereum follows in second place (79 per cent, up “1 per cent on the previous year).”
Solana is in third place this year with 60 per cent, “a significant increase of 13 per cent compared to the previous year.”
XRP is the fourth most popular digital asset (48%), followed by Cardano (46%) in fifth place, “dropping two places in the ranking.”
The report from KPMG further revealed that overall, 80 per cent of investors are “invested in the top 10 cryptocurrencies.”