Asia’s wealthy investors seek more crypto in portfolios
Some family offices eye crypto exposure around 5% of portfolios
[HONG KONG/SINGAPORE] Wealthy Asian families and family offices are ramping up their cryptocurrency investments, driven by the bullishness around digital assets, increased mainstream adoption and favourable regulatory developments in key markets.
Wealth managers said that they are receiving more enquiries, cryptocurrency exchanges have seen trading volumes surge and crypto funds are in huge demand as high-net-worth Asian investors seek more exposure.
“We raised over US$100 million in just a few months, and the response from LPs has been encouraging,” said Jason Huang, founder of NextGen Digital Venture, referring to limited partners that represent high-net-worth individuals.
Huang launched a new long-short crypto equity fund, the Next Generation Fund II, in Singapore in late May, after winding down his first fund last year, which returned 375 per cent in less than two years.
“Our investors – mainly family offices and Internet/fintech entrepreneurs, recognise the growing role of digital assets in diversified portfolios,” he said.
Swiss investment bank UBS said that some overseas Chinese family offices plan to raise their crypto exposure to around 5 per cent of their portfolios.
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“Many second- and third-generation individuals of family offices are starting to learn about and participate in virtual currencies,” said Lu Zijie, head of wealth management at UBS China.
The surging interest comes on the back of strong cryptocurrency returns and favourable regulatory developments in the US under President Donald Trump, such as the recently approved Genius Act.
Bitcoin prices have been hitting record highs this month, surpassing US$124,000.
Hong Kong’s recent passage of its stablecoin legislation has also fuelled a wave of crypto enthusiasm.
“The momentum has definitely built, and I think it’s a function of just general maturity of the asset class,” said Saad Ahmed, head of Asia-Pacific at crypto exchange Gemini. Wealth managers said that the mindset among Asian clients has changed from merely wanting to have a small allocation to digital currencies a few years ago to now embracing it as a must-have in portfolios and exploring tools to optimise returns.
“Last year, they (family offices) started to dip their feet into Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds)... now they have begun to learn the difference of holding a token directly,” said Zann Kwan, chief investment officer at Singapore-based Revo Digital Family Office.
Lighthouse Canton, a Singapore-based wealth manager, said that some more sophisticated family offices have started adopting market-neutral strategies, such as basis trades and arbitrage. Giselle Lai, associate investment director for digital assets at Fidelity International, said investors are increasingly treating Bitcoin as a “portfolio diversifier” to hedge macro uncertainties, given its low correlation with stocks and bonds.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have also benefited from increased trading demand.
The number of registered users at Hong Kong’s HashKey Exchange surged 85 per cent year on year by August 2025, the firm said.
Total trading volumes at South Korea’s three major exchanges grew 17 per cent so far in 2025 over the same period of 2024, with average daily trading volumes rising more than 20 per cent, according to research platform CryptoQuant. REUTERS
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