UBS has disclosed that it manages over one trillion US dollars in assets. According to the group’s 2025 Global Return on Investment Yearbook, wealthy clients have begun to allocate up to 5% of their investment portfolios to cryptocurrencies as a way to hedge against inflation and currency fluctuations.
The yearbook emphasizes that in view of structural inflation and the increase in systemic risks, the traditional portfolio diversification model that relies on real estate, commodities and global stocks is being rethought. As a digital asset, cryptocurrencies have drawn attention due to their low correlation with traditional markets and their buffering potential during macroeconomic shocks, indicating that they have evolved from marginal assets to a recognized component of modern portfolio construction.
This analysis echoes the remarks of Matt Hougan, the chief information officer of Bitwise, who recently emphasized that institutions and high-net-worth investors are increasingly viewing cryptocurrencies as a macro hedging tool, and these investors are beginning to increase their cryptocurrency allocation from 1% to as high as 5%.
Ubs’s data also shows that there are obvious generational differences in the way clients treat cryptocurrencies. Young investors under the age of 50 are more likely to incorporate digital assets into their core investment portfolios. They view cryptocurrencies as a bet on the future of financial infrastructure and are more receptive to volatility as well as emerging technology sectors. Older clients, on the other hand, adopt a more cautious attitude towards cryptocurrency investment. They usually tend to make small allocations in regulated products or tokenized forms of traditional financial instruments. For them, cryptocurrencies play a complementary role in asset allocation strategies, similar to gold, mainly serving as a safeguard against systemic risks rather than a major growth driver.
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