Cryptocurrencies are now an integral part of investors’ wealth strategy, says EY executive

More than 70% of cryptocurrency investors consider this asset class as a key component of their wealth creation strategy. according According to a survey by EY-Parthenon, Prashant Kher, EY Digital Asset Strategy and Transactions Leader, shared with Crypto Briefing that this is an important indicator of the evolution of the blockchain industry.

“It’s really just about showing what might have been considered experimentation and mere assets to play with on the side that these retail investors are now looking at holistically as part of their total wealth strategy or wealth picture,” he added.

Additionally, Kher highlighted that the survey revealed that emerging use cases beyond just commerce, such as payments, have increased over the past two years. Between 2022 and 2024, retail survey participants shared a 6% increase in the use of cryptocurrencies for payments, with 29% of them reporting this use case.

Notably, the percentage of accredited investors is even higher, with 69% reporting that they have used cryptocurrencies to make payments one or more times in the past 12 months. “I think there is a growing narrative about how you can pay faster, pay smaller amounts, and maybe pay across borders by reducing transaction times,” Kher said.

ETFs and RWAs drive adoption

The survey also revealed that 64% of retail investors are already investing in digital assets and another 69% plan to increase their investment in the next two to three years. Since the survey was conducted in March this year, spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) have already been approved in the US.

Additionally, other regions were also approving their crypto ETFs or were in the process of doing so, such as Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. These moves contributed to the high percentage of investors who responded positively to having invested in cryptocurrencies, Kher said.

EY’s digital asset strategy and trading leader explained that investors have been closely watching the cryptocurrency market since 2012, seeing many crashes and parabolic upward moves in the process.

Therefore, the possibility of investing through an ETF and the potential positive impacts that these investment vehicles could have are key to increasing their adoption.

“I think offering exposure to this asset class through a registered vehicle, basically through a fund managed by an asset manager that is known and trusted by a lot of these people, just adds a level of trust and accessibility for these retail investors.”

Additionally, 63% of accredited investors are interested in investing in tokenized real-world assets (RWA), and 88% of them plan to have invested by 2027.

Kher believes this also contributes to the introduction of new investors into the cryptocurrency market.

“There is a growing narrative away from cryptocurrencies, where retail investors and high net worth investors really want access to alternatives. And many investors could see tokenization as a way to achieve that.”

He adds that the next iteration of assets could be based on tokenization, where tokens hold a basket of other tokens, so that investors can access multiple alternatives with a single digital asset. Additionally, Kher sees this providing quicker accessibility to fractionalization and the ability to hyper-customize some of these products.

DeFi usage is growing

The growth in non-trading uses was not only seen in the payments-related use case, but also in interactions with decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Notably, staking usage grew by 16% since 2022, while interactions with DeFi platforms increased by 11% in the same period.

Kher noted that The Merge on Ethereum, which turned the network into a proof-of-stake consensus model, is the main factor behind the growing popularity of staking.

“Once that happened, the concept of staking became mainstream and people were looking at it. I think that may have been a big narrative behind it.”

Additionally, the possibility for long-term holders to accumulate value from their cryptocurrency holdings is also another attractive factor tied to staking. “I think that’s where some of that narrative and some of that growth really comes into play,” Kher concluded.

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