Crypto ownership is becoming more common among affluent investors, but relatively few are incorporating digital assets into long-term wealth strategies, according to a new survey from Nexo. The report found that 67% of respondents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Argentina said they already trust crypto, while security, fees and platform complexity continue to limit deeper adoption.
Nexo published its Future of Digital Wealth 2026 report on September 23, based on a survey of 1,000 affluent investors conducted by Attest in February and March 2026. Respondents in the US and UK held at least $100,000 in liquid assets, while the threshold for participants in Argentina was $40,000.
Ownership is outpacing financial integration
Nexo’s Crypto Integration Index produced an average score of 4.83 out of 10. The company said this level generally reflects relatively limited, short-term crypto exposure rather than a meaningful replacement for traditional investments or a role in retirement planning.
Only 4.7% of respondents recorded an index score of seven or higher, which Nexo classifies as “structurally integrated” crypto use. These investors have replaced a traditional asset with crypto and included it in longer-term financial planning. More than 40% of participants already held crypto but had not yet begun using it as a tool for building wealth. Fewer than 20% expected crypto to become their leading personal wealth driver over the next decade, ahead of income, equities and real estate.
Adoption also differed across the three markets. Argentina reported the highest ownership rate, at 74%, but had a Crypto Integration Index score of 4.62. The US had the lowest ownership rate, at 62%, yet recorded the highest integration score at 5.07. The UK posted 65% ownership and an index score of 4.75.
Security and usability remain adoption barriers
Investors aged 35 to 44 showed the highest level of integration, with 28% treating digital assets as a core retirement holding. Younger respondents aged 18 to 25 reported the highest ownership and conviction: more than 90% held crypto, but only 2% said they had a time horizon of at least 10 years.
Among investors with index scores of seven or above, the main obstacles were concerns about security, cited by 36%, high fees, cited by 34%, and platform complexity, cited by 28%. Nexo COO Neil Steinhardt said the remaining gap between crypto ownership and wealth creation is increasingly linked to security, cost and ease of use rather than initial risk perceptions.
Nexo analyst Iliya Kalchev similarly said risk perception now plays a smaller role in separating investors who have built wealth with crypto from those who have not. The report instead points to whether investors have substituted crypto for a traditional asset and incorporated it into retirement planning as the more significant dividing line.
