rewrite this title Bitwise CIO expects surge in crypto ETP allocations by year-end, foresees 5% portfolio norm

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan said on May 14 that a “big unlock” is occurring across the financial advisory space regarding crypto investments.

After attending a major advisory firm’s conference, Hougan shared his expectations that most major firms will enable crypto exchange-traded product (ETP) access by the end of 2025. 

He added that interest in crypto exposure is intensifying and predicted that the new measure for inflows into crypto ETPs will be “many billions.”

After over one year since their launch, collective daily inflows for US-traded crypto ETPs have surpassed $1 billion in five instances so far, according to Farside Investors data.

Hougan also said that portfolio allocation norms for crypto are shifting and “5% is the new 1%.” He further explained that institutions are becoming more comfortable with higher crypto weightings in traditional portfolios.

Institutions adjust crypto allocations

Asset managers have historically advocated modest crypto allocations, citing volatility and risk concentration. In December, BlackRock’s Investment Institute defined a 1% to 2% Bitcoin allocation as a “reasonable range” for multi-asset portfolios. 

That recommendation has since translated into practice. BlackRock incorporated Bitcoin (BTC) into its $150 billion model portfolio offerings via the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), assigning a 1% to 2% weight in target allocations.

The launch of US spot Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) ETPs in 2024 provided regulatory-compliant exposure mechanisms at scale for institutional clients, prompting many advisors to reevaluate their crypto positioning.

Hougan also reported increased advisor inquiries about Ethereum, stating he fielded more questions on the asset “in the past few days than the past six months.” 

Bitcoin and Ethereum draw parallel interest

While Bitcoin remains the dominant product by scale, Ethereum has emerged as a key area of curiosity for professionals, according to Hougan.

Bitwise shared in April that US spot Bitcoin ETPs held $93.2 billion in assets under management (AUM) as of December 2024, contrasting with spot Ethereum ETPs that totaled $6.3 billion in AUM. 

Despite the disparity, ownership of both products is dispersed across key institutional categories.

In Bitcoin ETPs, hedge funds (36.97%) and investment advisors (33.11%) account for most institutional ownership. 

On the other hand, Ethereum ETPs show more balanced exposure between investment advisors (29.79%), brokerages (25.25%), and hedge funds (24.74%), while family offices show a stronger preference for Ethereum.

Investment advisors and hedge funds allocated 5.8% and 4.5% of their total crypto allocation to Ethereum, while family offices had 25% of their nearly $173 million crypto allocation targeted to Ethereum.

Hougan’s remarks reinforce industry expectations that professional investment access to crypto is entering a new maturity phase. As product availability widens and allocation norms shift upward, crypto may play a more regularized role in portfolio construction.

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