Bitcoin has spent years cultivating its “digital gold” narrative. Turns out, the people who manage other people’s money are more interested in the pipes than the precious metal.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan revealed in a June 10 memo that after speaking with over 40 financial advisors in a single day, a record for the firm, the dominant conversation topic wasn’t Bitcoin’s price trajectory or its role as a hedge against inflation. It was stablecoins, tokenization, and the practical infrastructure layer of crypto.
The numbers tell a clear story
Bitwise’s annual survey with VettaFi, released on January 13, backs up Hougan’s anecdotal observations with actual data.
30% of advisors cited stablecoins and tokenization as their top area of interest in the crypto space. Only 22% pointed to Bitcoin’s role as a hedge against fiat debasement, the narrative that has powered much of the asset’s institutional adoption story. Another 19% flagged crypto-linked artificial intelligence as their primary focus.
