Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at bitcoin and crypto asset manager Bitwise Investments, says the “most powerful people in finance” are investing in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
In a memorandumHougan described a telling moment at a recent financial advisor summit hosted by Barron's magazine. When asked, nearly all attendees said they owned bitcoin and other crypto assets personally.
Bitwise is a leading provider of bitcoin and cryptocurrency index funds with over $4.5 billion in assets under management. Earlier this year, the company obtained regulatory approval for the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US.
Hougan said that when he asked the same question at previous advisor summits, only 10 to 20 percent raised their hands. About 70 percent said they owned bitcoin and cryptocurrencies this year, which is a sea change.
While fewer people said they had allocated bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in their clients' accounts so far, Hougan expects that to happen within six to 12 months based on past trends. He called it “one of the most powerful signals of the times” that top financial advisors are buying bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Hougan believes the launch of bitcoin ETFs this year, which opened up access to bitcoin to more investors, was the trigger for the shift. But he says that when advisors buy bitcoin personally, it builds familiarity and opens the way for subsequent allocations to clients.
The anecdote reveals firsthand the rise of bitcoin ownership among influential financial professionals. As these elite advisors and money managers embrace bitcoin, this validates and likely foreshadows a larger wave of institutional adoption.
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