Advisors Shift Focus From Bitcoin To Stablecoins And Tokenization

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan spoke with more than 40 financial advisors in one day, across eight sales calls. He noted that despite the market pullback, these advisors remain engaged with crypto but are shifting their attention towards stablecoins and tokenization.

Hougan's main takeaway was that advisors' questions are increasingly focused on real-world applications of cryptocurrency. This shift matters because financial advisors could become a major buyer group for crypto in the next cycle, particularly as many still face access and allocation hurdles.

Historically, previous crypto recoveries were driven by new products and investor groups, such as Ethereum after 2014, DeFi after 2018, and Bitcoin ETFs after FTX. Hougan believes that stablecoins, tokenization, perpetual futures, and other practical use cases could drive the next phase of adoption.

He views Bitcoin near $60,000 as attractive for long-term investors but notes that advisor conversations are more interested in infrastructure around digital assets. Hougan pointed to increasing discussions about stablecoins and tokenized assets among major financial and regulatory figures, including SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.

According to Hougan, if advisors become the marginal buyer in the next cycle, flows may first move into assets and companies tied to stablecoins, tokenization, and on-chain financial infrastructure. He cited Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Chainlink, Avalanche, Hyperliquid, Figure, Circle, and Coinbase as examples that came up in conversations.