Institutional fund managers gave Bitcoin the strongest growth outlook among digital assets in CoinShares' latest survey, while average crypto allocations edged higher and diversification overtook speculation as the main reason for investing.
The October 2026 Digital Asset Fund Manager Survey, published Nov. 10, 2026, polled 28 investors who together oversee approximately $642 billion in assets under management. The average digital asset allocation among respondents rose to 1.3%, up from 1.2% in July 2026, a gain of one-tenth of a percentage point over the quarter.
Bitcoin and Ethereum dominate positioning
Bitcoin came out on top for growth expectations, with fund managers viewing it as the asset with the most room to run. Ethereum and Solana both saw a slight improvement in sentiment compared with earlier editions of the survey.
Bitcoin and Ethereum together accounted for 47% of portfolio positioning responses, underscoring their continued dominance in institutional crypto allocations.
Managers look beyond the majors
The survey also captured a shift in where managers are looking beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Respondents pulled back from multi-asset strategies and from some older altcoins, while preferences tilted toward newer names.
CoinShares flagged Hyperliquid, SUI, Uniswap, NEAR, Aave and Chainlink as tokens drawing increased interest. Uniswap and Aave are decentralized finance protocols used for trading and lending. Chainlink supplies outside data to blockchains, while NEAR and SUI are general-purpose networks competing for developers and users.
Diversification overtakes speculation
Diversification emerged as the primary reason for investing, cited by 40% of respondents. CoinShares noted the shift was especially visible among family offices and individual investors.
Speculative motives fell below 9% and ranked fifth among the reasons managers gave. The survey attributes the small rise in average allocation to the diversification focus rather than to speculative appetite.
Survey background and key takeaways
CoinShares has run the survey on a quarterly basis since 2021, tracking how institutional attitudes toward digital assets evolve over time.
The survey data indicates that institutional crypto exposure remains small, with an average allocation of 1.3% meaning most of these portfolios still sit in traditional assets. Bitcoin and Ethereum's 47% share of positioning responses suggests the major assets continue to dominate institutional allocations.
The rotation toward newer tokens is a separate trend worth watching. Interest in names such as Hyperliquid, SUI and NEAR indicates institutions are willing to take targeted bets beyond the majors. The pullback from multi-asset strategies also hints that managers prefer selecting specific assets over buying broad baskets that bundle projects of varying quality.
