Citi Wealth Report: Family Offices Warm to Digital Assets as Sentiment Shifts

Family offices finally discover what retail investors knew years ago—digital assets aren't just for crypto bros anymore.

The Sentiment Shift

Citi's latest wealth management report reveals a notable thaw in institutional skepticism. Family offices—those discreet wealth managers for ultra-high-net-worth clans—are increasingly allocating to cryptocurrencies and blockchain investments. The traditional 'wait-and-see' approach gives way to strategic positioning.

Behind the Numbers

Portfolio allocations creep upward as regulatory clarity improves and institutional-grade custody solutions emerge. The report highlights growing comfort with Bitcoin as a inflation hedge and Ethereum for its smart contract capabilities—though some old-guard financiers still treat NFTs like digital Beanie Babies.

The New Reality

This isn't speculative fever. Family offices conduct deeper due diligence than ever before, demanding enterprise-level security and transparent governance. They're bypassing traditional finance gatekeepers to access decentralized protocols directly—a quiet revolution in capital allocation.

As one wealth manager quipped: 'When family offices move, they move slowly—but their checks don't bounce.' Maybe Wall Street should've taken crypto seriously before their richest clients started asking about yield farming at cocktail parties.

Family offices cite lack of expertise as top barrier to AI adoption

Historically, most Family Offices capped their crypto exposure at 1-5% of their total portfolios. However, in 2025, a BNY Mellon report highlighted that these allocations widened, with larger Family Offices (AUM > $1B) averaging close to 8%, smaller ones (AUM

According to the Citi Wealth report, family offices expect portfolio appreciation. Nearly Four out of ten anticipated returns of 10% or more. Rather than liquidate holdings in response to the tariff policies.

Family offices also rotated toward more defensive geographies and sectors, while keeping overall allocations intact, with cash holdings edged down. According to the report, they largely maintained their asset allocations, with half of them keeping their fixed income holdings steady and two-thirds keeping them in real estate.

Private equity saw the most notable bullish movement, with those increasing allocations outnumbering those decreasing by 26%.

Family offices were mainly concerned with trade wars (60%), with US-China relations being the second biggest concern (43%), followed by the resurgence of inflation (37%). The Middle East conflict and the Russia–Ukraine war were seen as substantially lesser risks (14% and 9% respectively).

Also, family office respondents who brought up the topic of AI deployment doubled in this year’s survey compared to 2024. They are interested in the automation of operational tasks (22%) and investment analysis or forecasting (22%).

AI has yet to be integrated across all functions, particularly in areas involving risk and compliance. For most family offices, the main barriers include a lack of internal expertise (57%), limited awareness (34%), and concerns about cybersecurity and return on investment.

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