BingX Exec: “Old Money” Shows More Bitcoin Diamond Hands

Bitcoin’s growing reputation as a portfolio diversifier is resonating with wealthy investors—many of whom, according to BingX chief strategy officer Kevin Lee, are approaching the asset with a longer horizon than typical crypto traders.

Speaking during a Token2049 fireside chat with Cointelegraph head of multimedia Ciaran Lyons, Lee said he frequently encounters “old money” investors actively looking for alternative allocations, rather than expecting near-term, outsized gains.

Key takeaways

• BingX CSO Kevin Lee describes wealthy “old money” investors as long-term holders who view Bitcoin as a diversification tool, not a short-cycle bet.
• CoinShares survey data cited in the discussion points to long-term appreciation and portfolio diversification as top reasons affluent investors hold crypto, with short-term speculation ranked last.
• Despite the narrative of growing institutional interest, JPMorgan’s family office survey indicates most single-family offices still have no crypto exposure.
• Bitcoin’s scale appears to be shifting the way some private investors frame risk and returns—moving from “10x quickly” expectations toward measured allocations.

From “alternative investment” to diversification strategy

Lee’s central argument is that Bitcoin has matured enough—by both market scale and public awareness—that wealth managers and affluent allocators increasingly treat it as part of a broader portfolio strategy.

In the conversation, he contrasted two mindsets: crypto-native traders who often focus on rapid price movements and wealthy investors who tend to think in terms of multi-year outcomes. Lee suggested that this difference is one reason “old money” capital may remain underrepresented in crypto, even as interest builds.

To illustrate the framing shift, Lee referenced an allocation approach where an investor might distribute a small percentage to gold and a similar percentage to Bitcoin—aiming for diversification rather than chasing fast, dramatic returns.

Affluent investors already lean toward long-term motives

While Lee’s remarks focused on how his clients approach Bitcoin, the article also pointed to survey findings that align with that longer-term perspective.

According to CoinShares data from a survey of 2,230 investors with at least $500,000 in investable assets, the most commonly cited reasons for investing in crypto were long-term appreciation and diversification. Short-term speculation ranked at the bottom of the list, according to the report referenced by Cointelegraph. The same dataset indicated that Bitcoin was held by 80% of digital asset investors surveyed.

For readers, the practical takeaway is that even among affluent participants who already hold crypto, the motivation profile skews toward endurance and allocation logic. That matters because it suggests potential stability in demand compared with markets driven primarily by short-term trading cycles—though it does not automatically translate into widespread adoption.

Family offices remain mostly outside crypto

Even if survey respondents show stronger long-term rationales, the broader picture for wealthy households is less uniform. The article noted that crypto still does not resemble a default allocation for most wealthy families.

It cited a JPMorgan report published in February, based on a survey of 333 single-family offices across 30 countries. In that study, 89% of surveyed offices reported having no cryptocurrency exposure. JPMorgan also reported an average crypto and digital asset allocation of 0.4%, reinforcing that—at least by the survey’s snapshot—crypto represents a small fraction of these private investors’ portfolios.

The same JPMorgan findings suggested that only 17% of respondents viewed crypto and digital assets as a key investment theme, highlighting a gap between growing interest narratives and actual capital allocation.

For investors watching this space, the tension is important: the “long-term diversification” story may be gaining traction among those already experimenting with crypto, while family offices—often gatekeepers for large pools of wealth—still show limited portfolio penetration.

What to watch: whether “interest” becomes measurable allocation

Lee’s remarks imply that Bitcoin’s increased scale and visibility are changing how some wealthy investors think about it—from an occasional high-volatility opportunity to a component of a diversified mix. Yet the family office data referenced in the discussion suggests that the shift may be uneven across wealth segments and investment committees.

What readers should monitor next is whether the long-horizon rationale seen in affluent investor surveys translates into higher, sustained allocations among family offices, or whether adoption continues to concentrate in smaller pools of already-convinced investors.