Are these four US financial giants stepping into Bitcoin?

According to Matt Hougan, Bitwise's Chief Investment Officer, the next wave of capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs could be on the horizon.

According to Matt Hougan, Chief Investment Officer at asset manager Bitwise, the next wave of capital inflows into Bitcoin ETFs could be on the horizon. His expectation: the four largest financial services firms in the US, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and UBS will give their clients direct access to Bitcoin spot ETFs before the end of 2025.

Together these giants manage more than $10 trillion in client assets. Up to now, they’ve kept their advisors on a short leash when it comes to direct Bitcoin investments. But that looks set to change soon.

“That’s one of the reasons I still believe Bitcoin ETFs will set a new net inflow record this year, even though they’ve only attracted ‘just’ $3.7 billion so far,” Hougan says with evident optimism.

That conviction isn’t coming from nowhere. In the past two weeks alone, Bitcoin ETFs posted an impressive net inflow of $3.87 billion. That has nearly wiped out the February and March losses.

Right now, ETF providers like BlackRock and Fidelity together hold 1.14 million BTC, worth an estimated value of $108 billion. That means they manage more Bitcoin than the legendary (and anonymous) creator Satoshi Nakamoto himself.

Although some US financial institutions have offered Bitcoin ETFs to a select group of high-net-worth clients since early 2024, there’s not a broad, accessible service yet. According to Hougan, that could change quickly and give the market a serious boost.

He made the prediction after his keynote on day one of a national wirehouse conference, facing a skeptical audience. Many attendees voiced concerns about Bitcoin's volatility.

Hougan’s blunt reply: “If you wait for Bitcoin to be more widely adopted than gold, or until volatility disappears, you’ll never buy it.”