A follow-up IFEC study found weaker herd behavior and less risk-taking after gains among virtual asset investors, though FOMO, overconfidence and growing reliance on intuition and influencers persisted.
A follow-up study by Hong Kong’s Investor and Financial Education Council found virtual asset investors showed weaker herd behavior, less risk-taking after gains and reduced reliance on past experience after the city’s 2023 platform regulatory regime took effect. The research, based on a survey of about 1,000 investors conducted in November and December 2025 and presented at an IOSCO seminar in June 2026, previously showed blind-following scores fell from 3.63 in 2022 to 3.19. Even so, behavioral biases remained common, with FOMO and overconfidence still prevalent, while investors also showed increased reliance on intuition and authority figures, including financial influencers.