- Wall Street has so far been reluctant to embrace cryptocurrencies.
- Spot Bitcoin ETFs are changing that, according to market watchers.
- This gives them access to a $100 trillion market, industry insiders say.
Individual traders have been driving the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund boom, but market watchers expect institutional investors to come along as well.
Since their launch in January, the 10 U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs have seen a total of $11 billion in inflows, according to BitMEX Research.
“Over time, as more platforms open, we will see an increasing proportion of flow from professional investors,” said Matt Hogan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management. DL Newsrefers to securities platforms and investment banks.
The comments highlight a shift in Wall Street's attitude towards cryptocurrencies.
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Until now, financial advisors, sophisticated family offices, hedge funds, venture capital funds, and banks have refrained from entering the world of digital assets, apart from occasionally launching internal blockchain projects to increase efficiency. I was hesitant.
However, Spot Bitcoin ETFs allow people to trade cryptocurrencies in a reasonably safe and regulated manner, making these trades increasingly attractive to institutional investors.
“A $100 trillion capital market just opened up to Bitcoin, and most of that market lacks exposure,” said Ryan McMillin, chief investment officer at crypto fund manager Merkle Tree Capital. Told. DL News.
According to media reports in February, Bank of America's Merrill Lynch and multinational financial services giant Wells Fargo have already begun offering access to Spot Bitcoin ETFs to some of their wealth management clients.
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Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in the same month that Morgan Stanley, UBS and others are also considering using funds with direct access to Bitcoin.
He added that there is “increasing pressure” on large U.S. investment firms to use spot Bitcoin ETFs.
“Please try to imagine [a] Morgan advisors and your clients want IBIT, and you have to think, “I don't have access, my mommy (the gatekeeper of the platform) won't allow it.” That would be embarrassing,” he said.
IBIT is the ticker symbol for BlackRock's Spot Bitcoin ETF.
Admittedly, this week has been tough for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
BitMEX Research said it suffered a total of $742.2 million in outflows on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Analysts expect these outflows to begin soon.
“Spot BTC outlook” [ETF] “The inflow remains positive as most major platforms are still in the early stages of opening up access to customers,” said David Rowant, head of research at crypto intermediary FalconX. DL News.
Sebastian Sinclair is DL News' market correspondent. Any tips? Please contact Cebu: sebastian@dlnews.com.
