Crypto: Crypto Investors Prioritize Infrastructure Over Defi, Survey Finds
Senior decision-makers flagged liquidity constraints and market depth as key barriers to institutional crypto adoption in 2026.
A survey of senior crypto investors and executives suggests capital priorities are shifting away from decentralized finance (DeFi) and toward core infrastructure, as decision-makers focus on liquidity constraints and market plumbing.
The findings come from a new report published by the digital asset conference CfC St. Moritz, based on responses from 242 attendees of its invitation-only event in January. Respondents included institutional investors, founders, C-suite executives, regulators and family office representatives.
According to the survey, 85% of respondents selected infrastructure as their top funding priority, ahead of DeFi, compliance, cybersecurity and user experience.
While expectations for revenue growth and innovation remain broadly positive, respondents flagged liquidity shortages as the industry's most pressing risk. The results suggest that investor interest remains, but capital deployment is becoming more selective.
Respondents pointed to market depth and settlement capacity as key bottlenecks preventing larger pools of institutional capital from entering crypto markets.
About 84% of respondents described the macroeconomic backdrop as better than neutral for crypto growth, though many said existing market infrastructure remain insufficient for large-scale capitalization.
The survey also showed a change in innovation expectations. While a majority expects innovation to accelerate in 2026, fewer respondents anticipate a sharp increase compared to last year, suggesting a shift away from more speculative expectations toward execution-focused development.
This shift aligns with broader industry trends, including a focus on custody, clearing, stablecoin infrastructure and tokenization frameworks rather than consumer-facing applications.
Related: CoreWeave shows how crypto-era infrastructure quietly became AI’s backbone
Source: CoinTelegraph
