The Big Money Degens Are Back, But Now They Want Seatbelts

A fresh poll of 351 institutional suits from Coinbase, EY, and Parthenon reveals the suits are still bullish, proving FOMO is a universal language. A solid 73% plan to pump more funds into digital assets by 2026, and 74% are betting the charts will go up and to the right over the next year—because what else would they say?

At the same time, almost half admit recent market rollercoasters have forced them to tighten up their risk-management, liquidity, and position-sizing controls. According to David Duong, head of institutional research at Coinbase, this is just the market growing up. “People are still interested in crypto,” Duong noted. “They want tighter risk controls, but they want to stay allocated.” In other words, they want to ride the wave, they just want a bigger life jacket.

The data also shows a shift from treating crypto like a casino visit to building a permanent branch office. Sixty-six percent of respondents now get their exposure via spot crypto ETFs, and a hefty 81% prefer getting that spot exposure through a registered vehicle. Duong stresses these aren't just temporary fixes; they serve a specific investor segment, though eventually, more firms may ditch the middleman and go straight on-chain—where the real party is.

Regulation remains the industry's favorite dysfunctional relationship. Sixty-five percent cite clearer rules as a primary reason to increase their bags, yet 66% point to regulatory uncertainty as their top anxiety. The proposed Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act—which aims to sort out the SEC and CFTC turf war, stablecoin rules, and market structure—adds fuel to the debate, even as the bill languishes and other agencies like the OCC start sketching rules for bank-crypto flirtations.

Stablecoins and tokenization are graduating from buzzword bingo to actual infrastructure. Eighty-six percent are already using or eyeing stablecoins, particularly for use cases like T+0 settlement and internal cash management—because moving money instantly beats waiting for the traditional finance wire to finally crawl through. Meanwhile, 63% are very interested in tokenized assets, and over 60% expect tokenization to completely overhaul trading, clearing, and settlement within three to five years. The future is fractionalized.

Custody priorities have done a full 180. The number of respondents citing regulatory compliance as a key custodian factor skyrocketed to 66% from 25% a year ago, and the importance of security and key-signing protocols soared to 66% from a mere 8%. Cost, meanwhile, has been relegated to the bottom of the list. It turns out, when you're playing with serious money, "not your keys, not your coins" becomes "not our keys, not our problem."

In short, the big players still want a piece of the crypto action, but now they're insisting on a contract and a security detail. The next wave of adoption won't be driven by pure, unadulterated hype, but by the industry's ability to deliver the compliance, security, and liquidity guardrails that let institutional money sleep at night.