Asian billionaires are ramping up investments in cryptoassets: what's driving them?

Against the backdrop of record prices for digital assets and regulatory easing in the US and Hong Kong, wealthy investors from Asia have increased demand for crypto funds and direct investments. While wealthy families previously allocated only a small portion of their portfolio to cryptocurrencies, they now see them as a must-have asset. Wealthy Asian families are also increasing their investments in gold, from financing mining to arbitrage between markets.

Wealthy Asian families and family offices are actively increasing investments in cryptocurrencies amid optimism around digital assets and favorable steps by regulators, Reuters writes . The demand is reflected in the growth of client inquiries, increased trading volumes on exchanges and increased interest in crypto funds.

In May, Jason Huang, founder of Singapore-based NextGen Digital Venture, launched Next Generation Fund II, a new fund focused on the crypto sector.

"We raised over $100 million in just a few months, and investor interest has been very high," Huang told us.

He said the main clients are family offices and IT and fintech entrepreneurs who see cryptocurrencies as an important part of a diversified portfolio.

UBS confirms the trend: some Chinese family offices are planning to bring the cryptocurrency share to about 5% of the portfolio.

"Many second- and third-generation individuals are already starting to explore and directly participate in the virtual currency market," said Lu Jijie, head of wealth management at UBS China.

Activity is increasing on exchanges as well. The number of users on Hong Kong's HashKey platform has grown by 85% in a year, and trading volumes on South Korea's three largest crypto exchanges have increased by 17% since the beginning of 2025.

Interest in cryptocurrencies is fueled by several factors at once: high yields, the new GENIUS Act in the United States, passed under Donald Trump, as well as the regulation of stablecoins in Hong Kong. In addition, bitcoin in August updated its all-time high, rising above $124,000, recalls Reuters.

"We see the market maturing - it's already a full-fledged asset class," said Saad Ahmed, head of Asia Pacific for cryptocurrency exchange Gemini.

According to him, while rich families used to allocate only a small part of their portfolio to cryptocurrencies, they now see them as a must-have asset.

"Last year they tried a bitcoin-ETF (exchange-traded investment fund), but today they increasingly prefer to store tokens directly," adds Zann Kwan, chief investment officer at Revo Digital's Singapore family office.

Asian family offices and billionaires are stepping up investments not only in cryptocurrencies but also in gold, bypassing intermediaries and directly mining, transporting and trading bullion, Bloomberg writes.

Cavendish Investment Corp. for example, a family office run by the former chairman of a Hong Kong-based jewelry company, has allocated a third of its portfolio to physical gold transactions in 2025: the metal is purchased from mines in Africa, shipped to Hong Kong, refined and sold to wealthy clients across Asia, including buyers from China.

In addition to direct trading, other strategies are also popular: leasing gold to jewelers with a 3-4% annual yield, arbitrage between Dubai and Hong Kong, participation in profit-sharing projects, and using bullion as collateral for investments in cryptocurrencies, stocks and real estate.

Demand for the metal is growing as vigorously as for digital assets: according to HSBC, in Hong Kong, the share of gold in investors' portfolios more than doubled over the year, and in China it rose from 7% to 15%. Since the beginning of the year, gold has risen in price by almost 30%, and forecasts by Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs promise growth to $3700-4000 per ounce in 2026.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor