TL;DR
- Visa found 46% of Asia-Pacific consumers are likely to use stablecoins within five years, compared with 16% who used them during the previous year.
- CoinShares found a majority of affluent investors hold digital assets across seven surveyed markets, with average portfolio allocations clustering around 10%.
- Trust, regulation and professional guidance remain central: Visa found knowledge gaps among consumers, while CoinShares reported strong support for regulation and willingness to increase exposure.
Visa and CoinShares have published surveys pointing to rising digital-asset appetite across different audiences. Visa’s Asia Pacific study surveyed 14,250 consumers across 14 markets, while CoinShares questioned 2,230 affluent investors across the U.S. and six European countries. Interest in stablecoins is rising alongside crypto ownership among wealthier investors. Together, the studies suggest digital assets are gaining relevance both as payment tools and as portfolio holdings, although adoption patterns differ sharply between consumers and investors.
Stablecoin Utility and Investment Demand Move in Parallel
Visa found that 46% of Asia-Pacific consumers are likely to use stablecoins within five years, compared with 16% who used them in the previous 12 months. Cross-border money movement also attracted interest, with 49% saying stablecoins could become a common way to move money internationally. The gap between current use and future intent points to growth potential if payment experiences become easier and more trusted. That opportunity aligns with Visa’s broader stablecoin payment infrastructure push.
Awareness, however, is ahead of understanding. Visa found 66% of respondents had heard of stablecoins, but only 6% demonstrated an accurate understanding of how they work. Among people aware of stablecoins who had never used them, 38% cited fraud or scam concerns and 36% pointed to limited understanding. Trust and education remain major barriers as consumer curiosity expands, suggesting adoption may depend on familiar regulated channels such as banks and payment providers.
CoinShares’ affluent-investor survey presents a different picture. A majority of respondents held digital assets in every surveyed market, ranging from 54% in Sweden to around 70% in the U.S., U.K., Germany and Switzerland. Average allocations clustered near 10% of portfolios, while strategic motives such as long-term appreciation and diversification outweighed short-term speculation. For affluent investors, crypto increasingly appears to function as a strategic allocation rather than merely a trading position, echoing earlier wealthy-investor crypto demand.
The survey also found that 85% or more of current investors in five of seven markets plan to increase exposure during 2026, reaching 91% in the U.S., U.K. and Germany. Meanwhile, 79% support greater digital-asset regulation, and 69% would consider working with a wealth manager offering crypto expertise. The two studies point toward different adoption engines: consumers want practical, trusted payment use, while affluent investors increasingly want regulated access, diversification and professional guidance. That divide may shape how institutional digital-asset services evolve.
