Asia's wealthy adopt crypto

Bitcoin climbs to a new high in August

- SUMMER ZHEN RAE WEE

Wealthy Asian families and family offices are ramping up their cryptocurrency investments, driven by the bullishness around digital assets, increased mainstream adoption and favourable regulatory developments in key markets.

Wealth managers said they are receiving more enquiries, cryptocurrency exchanges have seen trading volumes surge and crypto funds are in huge demand as high-net-worth Asian investors seek more exposure.

"We raised over $100 million in just a few months, and the response from LPs has been encouraging," said Jason Huang, founder of NextGen Digital Venture, referring to limited partners, which represent high net-worth individuals.

Mr Huang launched a new long-short crypto equity fund, the Next Generation Fund II, in Singapore in late May, after winding down his first fund last year, which returned 375% in less than two years.