39% of Institutional Investors in Canada Had Crypto Exposure in 2023: KPMG

cryptonews.com:

Nearly four in ten Canada-based institutional investors had exposure to crypto assets in 2023, KPMG survey finds. This marks a significant recovery from the 2022 market slump.

The KPMG in Canada and CAASA survey highlighted that 39% of (or nearly 4 in 10) Canadian institutional reported having direct or indirect exposure to crypto assets in 2023, which is up from 31% in 2021.

“The last time we did this survey in 2021, it was a strong year for crypto assets,” says Kunal Bhasin, partner at KPMG in Canada’s Digital Assets practice.

He added that the following year was turbulent, shaken by major crypto firm collapses and increase in fraud. However, he said that these events had a “cleansing effect” on the crypto industry.

“Our survey findings suggest crypto assets are increasingly seen as an investible alternative asset class among such institutional investors and financial services organizations in Canada.”

Further, the poll shows a staggering increase in the institutional investors holding cryptocurrencies directly last year – 75% up from 29% in 2021.

Interestingly, their exposure to crypto via exchange-traded funds remain unchanged, given the US spot Bitcoin ETFs approval early this year. Consistently, 50% of investors have had exposure to crypto through ETFs and other regulated products since 2021.

The survey also highlighted a considerable increase in Canadian institutional investors, accessing crypto holdings via public equities and derivatives.

“A pivotal moment for cryptoassets came in January 2024, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin ETFs,” says Kareem Sadek from KPMG’s Digital Assets practice.

Mark Greenberg, Managing Director for Canada at Kraken told Nasdaq in an interview last