CoinSpotMarket Update
Crypto Rebounds While Institutional Adoption Booms
3 minutes
a day ago
3 minutes
a day ago
Vanguard, the world’s second-largest asset manager with over $16 trillion ($11 trillion USD) under management, has reversed its long-held stance against cryptocurrencies and now allows ETFs that primarily hold cryptocurrencies to trade on its brokerage platform. The change provides roughly 50 million Vanguard clients with convenient access to crypto exposure without requiring them to leave their existing investment accounts.
Importantly, Vanguard still isn’t launching its own in-house crypto products, so this is more about access than endorsement. However, from a market-structure perspective, it’s another significant indication that crypto is integrating with the mainstream wealth system.
Bank of America has told its wealth-management clients that a 1–4% allocation to crypto can be appropriate for investors who are comfortable with higher volatility. Starting in early January, advisors across Merrill, Bank of America Private Bank and Merrill Edge will be allowed to recommend a small crypto allocation, initially via spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Crypto is now being used as a small, satellite allocation within diversified portfolios. While the sizing remains conservative, allowing over 15,000 wealth advisers to actively discuss and recommend Bitcoin ETFs is a significant distribution win for the asset class.
Kalshi, a regulated U.S. prediction market, has launched tokenised versions of its event contracts on Solana, bringing thousands of its markets onchain. That means users will be able to trade tokenised claims tied to real-world events such as elections and economic decisions using public blockchain rails rather than Kalshi’s internal systems.
Kalshi’s markets, which are based on real-world events (e.g. elections, inflation data), can be converted into tokens that trade on Solana. Over time, that could make it easier for everyday crypto users and investors to protect themselves against economic and political events, using the same apps and wallets they already use for other coins.
Charles Schwab, another leading U.S. brokerage firm, confirmed plans to roll out spot crypto trading in the first half of 2026, starting with Bitcoin and Ethereum. The firm will begin by piloting the service internally with employees and a select group of clients, before expanding it more broadly if everything runs smoothly.
For the broader market, Schwab’s entry adds yet another massive distribution channel for BTC and ETH, this time via one of the most recognisable retail broker brands in the U.S.
BlackRock has revealed that its U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF, IBIT, has grown so quickly that Bitcoin ETFs are now the firm’s single largest source of ETF fee revenue. Launched in early 2024, IBIT is generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annualised fees despite recent outflows.
The fact that a Bitcoin product is topping the revenue league table inside the world’s biggest asset manager is a strong signal of where investor demand is flowing. It underlines how important spot Bitcoin ETFs have been for unlocking greater access to crypto. Wall Street may remain sceptical in its rhetoric at times, but the data suggests crypto exposure is one of the fastest-growing profit centres in traditional asset management.
In addition, BlackRock is looking to expand its Ethereum ETF offering, filing this week for an iShares Staked Ethereum Trust ETF product. If approved, the ETF would not only offer exposure to the ETH price but also pass through some of the ETH staking rewards that Ethereum pays to validators. Large asset managers are clearly moving beyond simple crypto price trackers and starting to venture into the yield-generating components of crypto.
