Nexo says 67% of affluent investors own crypto, but integration stays low.
Security, fees and platform complexity emerge as key barriers to adoption.
US investors show deepest crypto integration despite lower ownership rates.
High-net-worth investors are increasingly buying crypto, but many are still reluctant to make it a major part of their long-term wealth plans, according to a new Nexo survey.
The report found that 67% of affluent investors across the US, UK and Argentina already own crypto. However, security concerns, high fees and complicated platforms are stopping many from using digital assets for retirement planning or replacing traditional investments.
Nexo published its “Future of Digital Wealth 2026” report on September 23 after surveying 1,000 affluent investors. Its new Crypto Integration Index, which measures how deeply crypto is incorporated into investors’ finances, produced an average score of 4.83 out of 10.
Ownership outpaces deeper integration
Nexo said a score near the survey average of 4.83 represents a small, short-horizon crypto position outside retirement planning.
Only 4.7% of surveyed investors scored seven or higher, a level Nexo describes as structurally integrated, where crypto has replaced a traditional asset and forms part of longer-term financial planning.
The report found that just under 20% of respondents expect crypto to become their number-one personal wealth driver over the next decade, ahead of salary, equities and real estate.
More than 40% are already invested in crypto without yet building wealth with it.
“Once an investor gets past the risk perception stage, what’s left is security, fees, and platform user-friendliness and capabilities – the same things we’ve spent years building Nexo to solve,” said Neil Steinhardt, COO, Nexo US.
That’s the gap between owning crypto and actually building wealth with it, and it’s exactly where our platform is designed to meet investors.
Integration also varies by market. Argentina had the highest ownership rate at 74%, but a CII score of 4.62. The US had the lowest ownership at 62%, but the deepest integration with a score of 5.07.
The UK recorded 65% ownership and a CII score of 4.75.
Platform trust becomes the next hurdle
The report said crypto integration peaks among investors aged 35 to 44, with 28% treating digital assets as a core retirement asset.
Investors aged 18 to 25 reported the highest ownership and conviction, with more than 90% holding crypto, but only 2% maintaining a horizon of 10 years or longer.
Among structurally integrated investors with CII scores of seven or more, reported frictions shift towards platform trust. Security concerns were cited by 36%, high fees by 34%, and platform complexity by 28%.
“Risk perception used to be the story in every crypto adoption survey. It isn’t anymore,” said Iliya Kalchev, analyst at Nexo.
In our data, risk perception barely separates investors who’ve built real wealth with crypto from those who haven’t — what actually divides them is whether they’ve substituted crypto for a traditional asset and folded it into retirement planning. For affluent investors it’s the planning and the smoothness of operating with that crypto that remains to be resolved.
The survey was fielded in February and March 2026 through Attest. Respondents needed at least $100,000 in liquid assets in the US and UK, or $40,000 in Argentina, thresholds calibrated to capture the top 25% to 30% of each market by investable wealth.
