In the recent Avaloq wealth insights 2025 report, which was built on two surveys carried out earlier in 2025, in February and March with over 3,851 investors from 15 markets including the UAE, they found that 39% of UAE investors hold crypto, surpassing the global average of 30%. UAE crypt investors usage of crypto exchanges was also higher than the world average, yet for those not yet invested in crypto, they would rather work with their traditional providers, banks and wealth managers rather than crypto exchanges.
The survey noted that 93% of UAE crypto investors engage in crypto exchange platforms compared to 86% globally. For those who haven’t invested in crypto yet, 51% said they would consider investing if offered by their traditional provider. As per the report, this is an opportunity for UAE wealth managers.
However, the report also found that only 30% of those wealth managers currently feel equipped to advice clients on these assets, which means 70% feel unequipped.
64% of wealth managers welcome an improved crypto and digital asset offering to remedy this. Already wealth managers are using between seven and nice technology systems with 25% identified excessive, unnecessary functions as their biggest pain point.
One of the most important findings is that 75% of UAE investors see news sharing as essential for building trust and this is the highest globally. In response, 50% of UAE wealth managers now consider improved news-sharing capabilities to be a meaningful enhancement in their role.
Finally, 90% of UAE wealth managers believe AI will benefit their industry, while only 20% think that investors will be unable to trust AI for financial planning.
Globally 24% of investors invest in crypto compared to 13% in 2024
On average and across all markets, investors were more cautious in early 2025 with 28% of investors in 2025 saying they were now investing more conservatively, up from 20% in 2024.
In terms of crypto and digital assets, investor attitudes shifted with 5 percentage point increase in the number of investors holding these assets compared to 2024. 24% of investors invest in crypto and digital assets through traditional banks or wealth managers, up from 13% a year ago, while investment via challenger banks has also doubled from 8% to 16%.
54% of wealth management professionals now consider crypto and digital assets are important for client engagement compared to 44% last year.
Yet 35% of investors still distrust crypto exchanges and 47% would rather work with their bank or wealth manager.
Investors are increasingly relying on news articles for information, up 8 percentage points over 2024. While wealth industry professionals remain the leading source of information, there is also a 6-percentagepoint uptick in the use of social media for investment insights.
