Bank of America Survey Reveals: Why Major Institutions Are Still Sidestepping Bitcoin & Crypto

Wall Street’s crypto cold feet continue—despite a maturing market.

Institutions still treat digital assets like a risky side bet rather than core portfolio material. The latest Bank of America survey confirms it: big money remains on the sidelines.

Here’s the irony—while hedge funds chase meme stocks and private equity overpays for vintage office towers, they’re calling *this* the speculative play. Classic finance logic.

No panic, though. When they finally FOMO in, we’ll be waiting—with higher prices.

Institutional allocations remain minimal

Even among the minority of fund managers with digital asset exposure, the average portfolio allocation was just 3.2%.

When averaged across all respondents, this figure drops to a mere 0.3%.

ETF analyst Eric Balchunas commented on the findings:

“Aren’t these the same ‘global managers’ who said they were selling America in Q1? Maybe they should start surveying people with better returns.”

Despite growing mainstream adoption of bitcoin, including new 401(k) offerings for US retirement savers, only 9% of fund managers have a structural allocation to digital assets.

This cautious approach stands in contrast to the rising sentiment for global equities, where a net 14% of managers reported being overweight in August, up from 2% the previous month.

macro risks dominate portfolio strategy

The survey also revealed that 41% of managers expect weaker global growth in the coming year, up from 31% in July.

Inflation fears are increasing, with 18% now expecting higher price pressures versus just 6% the previous month.

Cash holdings remained steady at 3.9%, close to the 4% threshold that Bank of America considers a potential sell signal for US equities.

equities favored over bitcoin

Managers continue to overweight global and emerging market equities while underweighting US equities due to overvaluation concerns.

Traditional assets remain the primary focus, as bitcoin and other digital assets are viewed as peripheral in most institutional portfolios.

experts expect change as bitcoin adoption grows

While Wall Street remains cautious, experts like Ryan Rasmussen of Bitwise Invest suggest institutional managers may need to reconsider their minimal bitcoin allocations as adoption and performance trends shift.