A new poll from Japanese bank Nomura (NYSE: $NMR) has found that a majority of institutional investors see cryptocurrencies as critically important for portfolio diversification.
The survey shows that institutional investors are warming to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) as they see growing use cases emerging for digital assets.
The study, based on responses from more than 500 investment professionals, found that 31% of participants now hold a positive view of crypto, up from 25% in 2024.
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At the same time, negative sentiment towards digital assets has declined, pointing to a gradual shift in perception as digital tokens such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: $ETH) mature.
Most prominent in the survey results is the view that cryptocurrencies are important for portfolio diversification.
Some 65% of respondents said that they view crypto as a portfolio diversifier, while 79% of institutions said that they plan to invest in digital assets within the next three years.
Most hedge funds, brokerages, pensions, and other institutions said that they expect to allocate between 2% and 5% of their portfolios to cryptocurrencies in coming years.
The shifting views of crypto among institutions comes amid a changing regulatory and policy backdrop in the U.S. and other countries.
In Japan, policymakers have spent the past year refining crypto frameworks, including classification, taxation, and investor protections.
As a result, more than 60% of poll respondents expressed interest in staking, lending, derivatives, and tokenized assets, reflecting growing demand for yield-generating crypto.
Stablecoins are also gaining in popularity, with 63% of institutions identifying potential use cases ranging from treasury management to cross-border payments.
The survey found the biggest concerns related to crypto continue to be around volatility, counterparty risks, and the lack of established valuation frameworks.
BTC is currently trading at $75,300 U.S., down 40% from an all-time high of just over $126,000 U.S. reached in October of last year.