Firms managing $27T in assets are embracing crypto: CoinShares CSO

June 27, 2023 Alex Rustok

Major U.S. financial institutions managing $27 trillion of assets are “actively” seeking to provide clients with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto. 

On June 26, CoinShares chief strategy officer Meltem Demirors highlighted that at least eight major financial institutions had signaled moves in the digital assets space, including BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF filing and Fidelity’s crypto wealth management solutions.

Others include JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon, Invesco and Bank of America.

“Many of the largest financial institutions in the US are actively working to provide access to Bitcoin and more,” she noted, adding that there is a whopping $27 trillion in assets under management between them.

Earlier this month, BlackRock’s June 16 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund application led to a wave of filings for similar products, boosting a narrative that suggests “institutions are coming” for Bitcoin.

BTC price reached a 2023-high of $31,185 on June 24 amid surging confidence, according to CoinGecko.

Demirors, however, noted that while “the institutions are coming,” it’s still more of a trickle than a wave. “We’re seeing the bridges being built in real-time,” she added.

It should be noted that the $27 trillion figure is an estimation of the total assets under management across the eight institutions and only a tiny portion of this would likely be allocated to crypto investments.

Nevertheless, Reflexivity Research co-founder Will Clemente echoed Demiror’s sentiment, pointing out that Bitcoin’s market capitalization is less than $600 billion.

“Between HSBC, Blackrock, Fidelity, and Schwab we are talking about $25 trillion in assets under management that will soon be enabled to buy Bitcoin.”

Institutional investors are already showing more interest in Bitcoin-related funds. The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) saw its largest weekly inflow for a year pushing AUM over $1 billion, as reported by Cointelegraph.

Related: BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF ‘is the best thing to happen’ to BTC, or is it?

Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Board of Governors member Michelle Bowman criticized the absence of a crypto regulatory framework claiming that the uncertainty over the asset class traps institutions in a “supervisory void.”

Magazine: Crypto regulation: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?