Crypto Biz: Affluent investors are buying cryptocurrencies, but their advisors are not convinced.

Wealthy investors seem to be adopting cryptocurrencies faster than their financial advisors, while OKX is attracting new funds, and Strategy is directing more capital towards the repurchase of preferred stocks.

A new CoinShares survey has found that most wealthy investors in seven major economies already hold digital assets, and many plan to increase their allocation this year.

Against a more severe market environment, funds are still flowing into cryptocurrencies in other ways. Bitcoin is attempting to continue its best quarter-long performance since 2017, while the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds remains above 5%. OKX has raised additional funds with a valuation of $25 billion.

Meanwhile, Strategy is investing more capital in its preferred stocks. The amount of STRC shares the company repurchased last week is more than six times the amount it spent on purchasing Bitcoin.

Bitcoin rise encounters 5% resistance from the U.S. debt market

Delphi Digital indicates that Bitcoin has just recorded its best third quarter performance since 2017, but as the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds remains above 5%, it may become difficult to continue rising, as this provides investors with increasingly attractive alternative options for risk assets.

Delphi pointed out that Bitcoin rose by 43% in the third quarter and continued its upward trend for the third consecutive week, but warned that "this slow upward movement is occurring under real resistance." This resistance includes the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike in September, as well as U.S. Treasury yields being at their highest levels in decades.

However, Vanessa Grellet of Arche Capital points out that the preference for scarce assets such as Bitcoin and gold, and using them as a hedge against the decline in the purchasing power of fiat currency, does not depend on a low-interest-rate environment.

Since then, the outlook for interest rates has changed. According to CME FedWatch, non-farm employment in September only increased by 29,000 jobs, far below the expected 80,000, which has significantly reduced the probability of a rate hike in October. The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, John Williams, also stated that there is no urgent need for another rate hike.

However, for now, the relatively high yields on U.S. Treasury bonds remain an obstacle for risk assets. Bitcoin once rose above $87,000 last week, but fell back below $83,000 on Wednesday.

Wealthy investors are acting on cryptocurrencies faster than advisors.

A new survey by CoinShares shows that most wealthy investors in seven major economies hold digital assets, with cryptocurrencies accounting for an average of about 10% of their portfolios.

The survey covered 2,230 investors from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and Switzerland who have investable assets of at least $500,000 each. The percentage of investors holding cryptocurrencies ranges from 54% in Sweden to around 70% in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland. In five out of the seven countries, at least 85% of current crypto investors stated that they plan to increase their exposure in 2026.

Compared to some financial advisors, investors seem to have more confidence in cryptocurrencies. Among four countries surveyed – Switzerland, France, the United States, and Germany – about four-tenths of those who worked with advisors believed that the advisors were overly cautious regarding digital assets.

Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals Founder Ric Edelman questions the finding that "cryptocurrencies account for 10% of the average investment portfolio," stating that his research indicates that a allocation of 2% to 5% is more common at present. Nevertheless, Edelman still recommends increasing the allocation to 10% to 40% depending on the investor's risk tolerance.

OKX Continues Financing with a Valuation of $25 Billion

OKX raised an undisclosed amount of capital valued at $25 billion, continuing the financing round in March of this year when it received a $200 million investment from Intercontinental Exchange (Intercontinental Exchange).

Existing partners and investors participated in this additional financing, including SC Ventures, Qube Research & Technologies, Ripple under Standard Chartered Bank, as well as the stablecoin issuer Circle. OKX did not disclose the specific amount of this latest round of financing.

At this time of financing, OKX is taking another step into traditional financial markets. On Monday, the joint venture between OKX and ICE submitted an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), planning to launch a tokenized stock trading platform under the new innovative exemption framework of that institution. Whether the platform will be launched still depends on the approval of the relevant filings and exemptions.

The funds used for the STRC repurchase are more than six times that used to buy Bitcoin.

Strategy repurchased 1.77 million shares of STRC last week, costing $176.3 million; in contrast, the company spent only $28.7 million to purchase 334 bitcoins, making the former amount more than six times that of the latter.

According to the 8-K filing submitted to SEC on Monday, this purchase brought Strategy's Bitcoin holdings to exactly 848,000 BTC. The pace of Bitcoin accumulation has clearly slowed down: in the third quarter, the company's holdings only increased by 0.2%, as the purchase of 7,218 BTC was offset by the sale of 5,553 BTC.

Meanwhile, STRC has rebounded to near its $100 par value. The stock traded at around $99.53 on Monday, while it had fallen to around $75 in late June.

Strategy also submitted a power of attorney, seeking shareholder approval to change the dividend payments for STRC, STRF, STRK, and STRD to daily payments. STRC currently pays dividends twice a month, while the other three stocks pay quarterly. Shareholders are scheduled to vote on this proposal on October 28th.

If approved, the daily dividends for STRC will commence in November, followed by STRF, STRK, and STRD starting in January. Strategy indicates that these changes will not affect the dividend yield or the company's overall payment obligations, but they may impact reinvestment delays, liquidity, and price stability.

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