Visa and CoinShares surveys report rising crypto interest — from firms that profit if it rises

Two surveys released Monday, one from payments giant Visa and one from asset manager CoinShares, point to growing consumer interest in stablecoins across Asia Pacific and large crypto allocations among wealthy investors in the U.S. and Europe, according to The Block, which reported both.

Visa's study, conducted in June and July across 14,250 respondents in 14 Asia Pacific markets, found 46% said they were likely to use stablecoins within five years — against 16% who reported using them in the prior 12 months. Nearly half expected stablecoins to be widely adopted for international transfers within five years, with online purchases, travel, and overseas shopping also cited. But the same study found a wide knowledge gap: 66% said they were aware of stablecoins, while just 6% demonstrated an accurate understanding of how they work. Among those aware but who had never used one, 38% cited fraud or scam concerns. Asked who they would trust to handle stablecoins, respondents most often named government or central-bank-linked entities (27%), then banks and regulated institutions (26%).

CoinShares, in its "Affluent Investor Crypto Report," surveyed 2,230 investors between May 11 and June 5 across seven U.S. and European markets. It reported that a majority of affluent investors in every market held digital assets, ranging from 54% in Sweden to 70% in the U.S., UK, and Germany. Allocations clustered around 10% of portfolios. Bitcoin was held by 80% of digital-asset investors on average, and 89% of bitcoin holders also owned other tokens. At least 85% of current crypto investors in five of the seven markets said they planned to increase exposure in 2026, rising to 91% in the U.S., UK, and Germany. CoinShares said long-term appreciation and diversification outranked speculation everywhere, with only 6% identifying as short-term traders.

Key facts

• Visa: 46% of 14,250 APAC respondents likely to use stablecoins within five years; 16% used them in the prior year (Visa, via The Block).
• Visa: 66% aware of stablecoins, 6% with accurate understanding; 38% of aware non-users cited fraud/scam fears (Visa).
• CoinShares: 54% (Sweden) to 70% (U.S./UK/Germany) of affluent investors hold digital assets; ~10% average allocation (CoinShares).
• CoinShares: 85%+ plan to raise exposure in 2026 across five markets, 91% in the U.S./UK/Germany (CoinShares).

The real-world read

Both reports come from interested parties. Visa is building stablecoin settlement rails; a finding that consumers are warming to stablecoins supports its own commercial pitch. CoinShares is an asset manager whose business grows with crypto allocation, and a survey showing affluent clients want more of it is self-serving. Read them as marketing research, not neutral measurement. Visa's own numbers undercut the "appetite" framing: five-year "likely to use" intent (46%) is soft, actual use was 16%, and only 6% of respondents actually understood the product. These are the firms' own figures, reported secondhand by The Block; neither survey's full methodology was detailed here.

Opinion, and whose

Visa's Nischint Sanghavi, its head of digital currencies for Asia Pacific, said "consumers want stablecoins to feel like a natural part of the payments they already trust." CoinShares frames the affluent data as evidence of strategic, long-term adoption over speculation. Both are the sponsoring firms' characterizations of their own data.

Sources

• The Block (secondary), Oct. 5, 2026 — reported both surveys and their headline figures.
• Visa stablecoin consumer study (primary; interested-party marketing research) — APAC intent and awareness data.
• CoinShares "Affluent Investor Crypto Report" (primary; interested-party marketing research) — holdings and allocation data.

Not financial advice.