Inside the Surge: What’s Driving 74% of Major Investors to Bet Big on Crypto Today?

Nearly half of institutional investors say they are now placing greater emphasis on risk management, liquidity, and position sizing.

According to a survey of 351 institutional investors published by EY-Parthenon and Coinbase on March 18, three out of four institutional investors believe that crypto prices will go up over the next 12 months.

The findings suggest that recent price drops have done more to tighten how large investors engage with crypto than to shake their confidence in it.

What the Numbers Say

Per the report, 73% of investors plan to put more money into cryptocurrencies in 2026, and 74% think prices will go up within a year. At the same time, almost half (49%) said that they would be putting more emphasis on managing risk, liquidity, and position size, given the volatility in the market.

Furthermore, the study found that the default entry point is now regulated products, with 66% of respondents already having spot crypto ETFs or exchange-traded products (ETPs), and 81% saying they would rather access crypto through a registered vehicle.

According to the survey, stablecoins have moved well beyond theory, with 86% of investors already using or looking into them for cash management and money movement. Companies are also putting in place formal rules for counterparty risk and reserve transparency so that stablecoin workflows can fit into their existing controls.

This aligns with recent developments such as Mastercard’s $1.8 billion acquisition of stablecoin infrastructure firm BVNK, announced on March 17, which focuses on cross-border payments and business transactions.

Tokenization is also going in the same direction. Per the report, in the past year, the number of asset managers who want to tokenize their own assets went from 40% to 64%. Additionally, 63% of investors said they are willing to put money into tokenized assets, while 61% believe that tokenization will have a big impact on trading, clearing, and settlement in the next three to five years.

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Recently, Kraken announced a partnership with Nasdaq to develop tokenized equities through its xStocks product, which has already handled transaction volumes of over $25 billion.

Regulation Is the Biggest Driver

One interesting thing learned from the survey is that regulations cut both ways. 65% of institutions that plan to buy more crypto in 2026 said that clearer regulations were the main reason for doing so. However, another 66% also said that uncertainty about regulations was their biggest worry when investing.

When asked which areas most need clearer rules, 78% pointed to market structure, followed by digital asset firm licensing (56%) and tax treatment (54%).

Luckily, there has been some progress in the area, including the signing into law of the GENIUS Act last year to set up the first federal framework for stablecoins in the U.S. In addition, the SEC recently issued guidance on tokenized securities and also restarted Project Crypto in collaboration with the CFTC to make sure that both agencies approach digital assets in the same way.