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More Hong Kong institutions to cut crypto investment amid market meltdown: survey

  • A rising number of Hong Kong institutional investors surveyed by Bitstamp said they would reduce or remove cryptocurrency options in their investment plans
  • Amid a global economic slowdown and monetary policy tightening, the cryptocurrency market has struggled to recover from a crash earlier this year

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Major cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, ethereum and dash, have plunged in value since a market crash in May. Photo: Reuters

Institutional investors in Hong Kong have been planning to reduce their portfolios’ exposure to cryptocurrency fluctuations, as the asset class continues to reel from a market rout earlier this year.

In the second quarter, around 9 per cent of Hong Kong institutional investors surveyed by London-headquartered cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp said they were going to reduce cryptocurrency options in their investment plans, or remove them altogether – up from just 3 per cent in the previous quarter.

Around 29 per cent of the 253 Hong Kong institutional investors polled said they would increase their cryptocurrency investment, down from 29 per cent in the first quarter.

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The number of investors surveyed in the two quarters were roughly the same, Bitstamp said.

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“It is true that retail investors and the institutions who serve them are less active in crypto and perhaps looking for other assets in the short term,” said James Quinn, managing partner of Hong Kong-headquartered Q9 Capital, a crypto investment platform for institutions and high-net-worth individuals.

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“The ‘easy money’ is not so easy at the moment,” he said.

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