In February last year, Forbes magazine published its first-ever cryptocurrency rich list. But only one person in the top 10 was identified as an “investor”; the rest were either currency co-founders or ran a crypto-exchange. Less than nine months later, all those on the list were 50 per cent poorer, after the price of bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies plunged.
Yet, even at the end of the year, with the boom apparently over, more than a quarter of wealthy clients at one US investment bank were saying they wanted to invest in crypto, according to Hayvn, a new digital currency platform.
Crypto appears to hold an enduring fascination for the rich. Last June, Capgemini’s World Wealth report found that despite the enthusiasm for cryptocurrencies, wealth managers were the sticking point, as they couldn’t trade or advise on crypto for compliance reasons. Another 2018 survey by deVere suggested many investors would simply circumvent intermediaries: it forecast that 35 per cent of wealthy investors would have exposure to cryptocurrencies by the end of the year.