Visa, CoinShares find growing crypto appetite among consumers and affluent investors

Consumers are increasingly seeing stablecoins as a potential payments tool in Asia Pacific, while affluent investors in the U.S. and Europe report sizeable crypto allocations, according to two surveys released Monday.

In one study conducted in June and July, Visa found that 46% of 14,250 respondents across 14 Asia Pacific markets were likely to use stablecoins within five years, compared with 16% who had used them in the previous 12 months. 

Nearly half of the respondents expect stablecoins to be adopted widely in international transfers within five years, the study said, while also pointing to online purchases, travel, and overseas shopping as among the potential uses identified by respondents.

However, while 66% of consumers said they were aware of stablecoins, just 6% demonstrated an accurate understanding of how they work. Among those who knew about stablecoins but had never used them, 38% cited fraud or scam concerns. 

At the same time, adoption intent is also influenced by who is handling stablecoins. Government or central bank-linked entities were the most trusted providers at 27%, followed by banks and regulated financial institutions at 26%.

“Consumers want stablecoins to feel like a natural part of the payments they already trust,” Visa’s Nischint Sanghavi, its head of digital currencies for Asia Pacific, said in the report.

Affluent investors 

Separately, CoinShares found that digital assets are already held by a majority of affluent investors in all seven markets it surveyed, ranging from 54% in Sweden to 70% in the U.S., UK, and Germany.

In a study dubbed CoinShares Affluent Investor Crypto Report, the asset manager said it surveyed 2,230 investors between May 11 and June 5 and found that allocations clustered around 10% of portfolios. Bitcoin was held by 80% of digital-asset investors on average, while 89% of bitcoin investors also held other digital assets.

Among current digital-asset investors, at least 85% in five of the seven markets said they planned to increase their exposure in 2026, CoinShares said, adding that the figure reached 91% in the U.S., UK, and Germany.

CoinShares found that strategic motives such as long-term appreciation and diversification ranked ahead of speculation across all seven markets. Just 6% of respondents identified primarily as short-term traders.