Matrixport: Crypto Opportunities Despite Turbulence

The recent crypto crash has done little to dampen the appetite of certain investors, Matrixport said in its Private Wealth in Digital Assets Study 2022, published this week. In particular, mass affluent individuals were “moderately to highly interested” in digital assets after the downturn, looking to pick up digital assets at a lower price point amid the throes of crypto winter.

The study surveyed 1,500 investors across single and multi-family offices, High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) and Mass Affluent individuals (MAI), and key industry stakeholders, including in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Australia and the UK.

Despite a gloomy economic outlook, the Singapore-based cryptocurrency investment platform said that in the city state, “interest levels in digital assets increased significantly (from 53% to 88%) post-crash, highlighting that this country sees opportunities despite the turbulence.”

Over in Hong Kong, investors displayed strong levels of interest pre-crash (56% describe themselves as having ‘moderate to high interest’) with this figure rising to 67% following news of the volatility.

“In a bear market, we expect to see outflows in crypto. It is interesting to to note that the outflows relative to other assets were not outsized,” Eugene Lim, head of private wealth, said in the report.

Matrixport highlighted technology’s role in facilitating ease of use and adoption, citing accessibility of digital platforms (59%) as top among the key trends that would drive investor demand for digital assets. Other factors include entry of long-term investors (54%), traditional finance players offering relevant services (53%), performance of yield (48%) and increased used cases (48%).

In an interview with DealStreetAsia on 17 December, Matrixport CEO John Ge said the company plans to double the value of assets under its management and custody, and the number of users on its platform in 2022.

In December, the company also announced its participation in a US$14 million funding round for US-based Evertas, an insurer for custodial cryptoassets and blockchain infrastructure.