Citywealth Quick Insight Series on Crypto & Digital Asset Trends – Daniel Masters​, CoinShares

Date: 04 Feb 2026

Karen Jones

This week’s Quick Insight Series on Crypto & Digital Asset Trends – Daniel Masters, Executive Chairman, CoinShares, Europe’s largest and longest-standing digital asset investment firm.

What’s your current assessment of the digital asset market, and how is macroeconomic or regulatory uncertainty affecting sentiment among private wealth clients?

The market for crypto assets has been weak with technical levels being tested. Bitcoin has not been benefiting from a weak dollar nor Ethereum or other utility networks been benefiting from what is clearly the beginning of a long awaited cycle of replumbing financial services and supporting new technologies in AI. This is strange since other assets particularly precious metals have been very strong, and other commodities, bar oil, following suit. It is clear that after many years of promise, crypto networks are finally in a position to remake old technologies and support new ones.  

How are recent policy changes in the U.S., EU, or Asia influencing crypto adoption or caution in the private client space?

The US has a clear agenda and swift, timely response to policy demands around crypto. For many years, the entirity of the Biden administration, there was not imperative to support crypto but that has changed completely. The US is now the clear leader in global crypto activity, once again. This can be clearly seen with the plethora of new IPO’s for crypto businesses (Bullish, Bitgo, Galaxy, Gemini, and  upcoming ones, CoinShares, Grayscale, Fireblocks and Securitise). The EU was ahead of the pack in implementing MiCA and this has led to some innovations in the payment space with a few EMI licensed being granted, as well as clarity for VASPs. However the EU framework seems slow and more rigid than what is seen in the USA. The UK continues to lag badly and seems mired in red tape and naval gazing – there are zero IPO’s expected or happened in the UK. 

What role are digital assets currently playing in the portfolios of HNWIs and family offices — speculative, hedging, or strategic?

There is a proliferation of interest in digital assets from HNWI’s and family offices. Some are  interested in passive allocation, some in infrastructure whether in token or equity form, some are increasingly interested in Alpha stragegies. It seems all investment platforms are initiating digital asset offering or direct crypto access as clients demand it. 

How are wealth managers integrating crypto and blockchain-based products into diversified portfolios for their clients?

There have been numerous research reports on the benefits of adding crypto assets to more traditional asset porftolios. The impact is positive in terms of return and diversification.  

Are there specific tokens, protocols, or segments (DeFi, stablecoins, real-world assets) that you see gaining traction among private investors in 2025?

It seems that with the build out in finance and AI, only a few networks can support the trend. While there are benefits to layer 2’s and other networks that can compete on speed and cost it seems Ethereum is the only network that can offer vast decentralisation, consistent uptime, developer kits, and developer communities to really give institutional grade support. There are other emerging networks like Canton that specialise in financial applications and they may have a role too particularly where SFI’s want to see more control or confidentiality. 

How do you see the evolution of ESG frameworks and sustainability intersecting with blockchain and digital assets?

ESG seems to be less of a theme.  

What are the key risks private clients should be aware of in crypto markets — and how can advisors mitigate them?

Obviously crypto comes with unique risks, particularly around volatility and security. The largest incumbent players in all areas, like Binance for exchange, AAVE for DeFi, FireBlocks for custody, are now well schooled in security and exploits for incumbents seem rare now. The main risks seem to be in bridges between networks, which have been plagued, and also we have seen some vulnerability in aging code bases and in instances where small upgrades have been poorly deployed. 

Have expectations changed in terms of custody, access, or transparency in crypto wealth management solutions?

Solutions for wealth managers, particularly in ETPs and ETFs are now cheap, ubiquitous, sophisticated and inexpensive. These seem to be quite standard. The newer areas are DeFi, AI, cross chain applications, aggregators, perpetual platforms and so on. These are all inherently less mature and more risky.  

In what ways are you seeing private banks or trustees adapting to the inclusion of digital assets in estate planning and fiduciary conversations?

I don’t see much in terms of estate planning functionality. There have been attempts to address this but there is no clear market leader nor established product.   

What innovations or infrastructure developments (e.g. tokenization, ETFs, compliance tools) do you believe are most important to the future of crypto in private wealth?

Definitely tokenisation of RWA. We are already seeing funds, fixed income, money market and stocks. There are tremendous advantages in self sovereign ownership allowing for lending income, collateral deployment, rapidity, instant settlement. DeFi will be the home of RWA and the flexibility, freedom and efficiency will be clear improvements over legacy systems.  

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