Family Office Digital Assets Report 2024

Digital assets have evolved much since the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto shared his paper on “a new electronic cash system that’s fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party” back in 2008. Today, a parallel financial world operates outside of the traditional systems of institutional finance, built on principles designed to counter characteristics that make the latter less accessible, though signs are there that these two worlds will become more aligned.

Digital assets are exactly as their name suggests: digital items that have value like traditional assets, but are created, stored and traded entirely in the digital realm, with a global network of exchanges and service providers that facilitate this. In their form as cryptocurrencies, digital tokens, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and a handful of other variations, digital assets are remarkably different in concept and approach to traditional finance, but have helped drive innovation that can certainly improve this incumbent system.

The rapid evolution of digital asset technology isn’t matched when it comes to regulation adjustments, and governments have been confronted with the challenge of applying traditional state-based monetary and legal approaches to a deliberately decentralised financial system.

It’s also natural that an entirely new industry such as digital assets has gone through its own set of cycles and moments of hype, with enough negative headlines over the years to cause concern for cautious investors and ensure that it’s still a very small fraction in size compared to traditional finance, and likewise within the investment portfolio of most family offices.