Cointelegraph Research survey of venture capital firms finds that three quarters expect their crypto allocation in 2026 to remain the same or increase compared to 2025, with 25% anticipating a reduction.
What the Survey Data Shows
The bar chart breaks the responses into four categories. Fifty percent of firms expect their allocation to remain the same. Significantly increase, defined as more than 25% growth in crypto allocation, was selected by 16.7% of respondents. Moderately increase, in the 10 to 25% range, accounts for 8.3%. The only negative category, moderately decrease at a 10 to 25% reduction, represents 25% of responses.
No firms selected a significant decrease option, though it is worth noting the chart shows only four response categories and does not include a steeper reduction bracket.
Adding the two increase categories together gives 25% of firms planning to grow crypto exposure in 2026. Combined with the 50% holding steady, that produces the 75% figure cited in the headline. The remaining 25% are reducing, all within the moderate range.
What Holding Steady Actually Means
The largest single bar is the 50% that expect allocations to remain unchanged. That reading requires context. Holding crypto allocation steady after a year in which Bitcoin hit record highs and institutional product access expanded significantly is not a neutral position. It reflects a decision to maintain existing exposure rather than rotate out, in an environment where many traditional allocators have been questioned about their digital asset positions.
The firms planning significant increases are the more telling signal. At 16.7%, they represent a meaningful minority that is actively expanding rather than managing existing positions. That category implies conviction about 2026 conditions rather than inertia.
The 25% Reducing Is Not a Retreat
The reduction category is moderate by definition. A 10 to 25% reduction in crypto allocation from a 2025 base, for most VC portfolios, represents portfolio rebalancing rather than an exit. The absence of any respondents in a steep reduction bracket, if such an option existed, would strengthen that interpretation.
Cointelegraph Research does not specify the sample size or the composition of responding firms in the data visible here. That limits how precisely the percentages can be extrapolated to the broader VC industry. The directional finding, that institutional appetite for crypto is holding rather than contracting, is consistent with other allocation surveys published in early 2026, but the specific figures should be treated as indicative rather than definitive.
The market context matters here too. The survey captures stated intentions during a period when Bitcoin has pulled back from its 2025 highs. Firms maintaining or increasing allocations in that environment are making a forward-looking judgment, not riding momentum
