Appetite for Crypto Amongst Institutional Buyers in Hong Kong is Low: New Report

The months-long headwinds in the cryptocurrency ecosystem are beginning to fuel disinterest amongst institutional investors in Hong Kong. 

According to a report from the South China Morning Post (SCMP), riding on an earlier report from Bitstamp which surveyed 253 Hong Kong institutional investors, as many as 9% said they will reduce their exposure to the nascent asset class or stop investing in it altogether.

This figure is significant because it is far above the 3% who held a similar view in the previous quarter. 

“It is true that retail investors and the institutions who serve them are less active in crypto and perhaps looking for other assets in the short term,” said James Quinn, managing partner of Hong Kong-headquartered Q9 Capital, a crypto investment platform for institutions and high-net-worth individuals. Quinn added that “the ‘easy money’ is not so easy at the moment.”

It has been a roller coaster ride for the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem since the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops. 

The global economy was turned into chaos and this was further compounded by the collapse of Terra LUNA which lead to the bankruptcies of a number of established crypto firms beginning with Three Arrows Capital and later, Voyager Digital and Celsius Network amongst others.

While the survey still showcases a waning interest amongst investors, a good number of corporate buyers are still committed to investing in the industry. The Bitstamp survey showed that 29% of those surveyed still plan to commit additional funds to digital currencies.

The few institutional investors who still have an interest in injecting capital into the space will do so provided the funds are targeted at highly innovative protocols in the Web3.0 space. This model has guided the majority of new capital being injected into the broader cryptocurrency world today.

“The interest level remains high in further building the ecosystem, especially as it relates to proper investment products and solutions,” Quinn said. “[Institutions] are not changing course.”

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