In short
Crypto balances within the nation’s self-managed pension funds doubled in early 2024 earlier than flattening round $3B by June 2025.
Listed shares, money, and property stay the dominant allocations in SMSFs.
Such funds are “cautious by design,” Decrypt was informed.
Australian self-managed retirement funds held A$3.02 billion (US$1.9 billion) in cryptocurrencies on the finish of June, however contemporary information recommend they largely sat out this yr’s digital-asset rally.
The automobiles, often called self-managed superannuation funds, are non-public pension accounts that permit Australians to handle their very own retirement financial savings as an alternative of entrusting them to giant trade or retail funds.
Collectively, they account for a few quarter of the nation’s $4.3 trillion (US$2.8 trillion) superannuation pool, in response to information launched by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority final week.
Such a scale makes SMSFs an important part of family wealth for Australians.
Nevertheless, the present crypto footprint by means of these funds stays small subsequent to over A$1 trillion managed in Australia’s pension system, in response to the nation’s tax workplace report launched Wednesday.
Inside SMSFs, listed shares stay the biggest holding at $296 billion (US$193.1 billion), adopted by money and deposits at $171billion (US$111.6 billion), property at $105 billion (US$68.5 billion), and unlisted trusts at $133 billion (US$86.7 billion).
Crypto in SMSFs surged from $1.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) in March 2024 to $3.1 billion (US$2 billion) by June that yr, then held regular on the present determine of roughly $3 billion (US$1.9 billion).
Regardless of the rise, crypto makes up lower than 0.3% of SMSF belongings pegged to be over $1 trillion (US$652.5 billion), and a fair smaller fraction of Australia’s $4.3 trillion (US$2.8 trillion) pension system.
The restricted share displays how SMSFs are “cautious by design,” Jeremy Kinstlinger, co-founder of Sydney-based liquidity and execution providers supplier Argamon Markets, informed Decrypt.
“Till crypto feels mainstream and effectively regulated, it’ll stay a small a part of retirement portfolios,” Kinstlinger stated.
Requested concerning the slowdown, Kinstlinger stated SMSFs adopted crypto’s all-time highs early final yr however have pared down since then.
“In early 2024, crypto surged to all-time highs and SMSFs adopted the pattern,” Kinstlinger defined. “However after that peak, most stepped again and haven’t re-entered, which meant they missed the rally into the second half of the yr.”
The restrained take-up in SMSFs contrasts with the broader regional momentum, as Asia-Pacific crypto volumes reached $2.36 trillion (US$1.5 trillion) within the yr to June, up 69% after rising 27% the earlier yr, in response to a 2025 crypto adoption report from blockchain analytics agency Chainalysis.
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