Move Over, Hedge Funds—RIAs Now Dominate Bitcoin ETF Exposure With $10B+ in BTC
Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) just flipped the script—outpacing hedge funds in Bitcoin ETF allocations. The new institutional whales now control over $10 billion in BTC exposure through regulated funds.
Wall Street's old guard—caught flat-footed again? While hedge funds dither with 'wait-and-see' strategies, RIAs are quietly building positions for clients who actually plan to hold long-term. Imagine that.
One cynical take: Maybe those 2-and-20 fees were better spent on actual asset accumulation. Just saying.
Bitcoin ETF Institutional Investors (Source: X/Balchunas)
That figure places them well ahead of hedge funds, which account for roughly $7 billion in Bitcoin ETF exposure, and brokerages, which hold about $2.1 billion.
Industry insiders also point to a shift in how RIAs are marketing crypto to high-net-worth (HNW) clients.
William Poulin, former head of product at Fidelity, highlighted a trend where savvy advisors rebrand portfolio strategies as exclusive hedge funds.
These RIAs are placing Bitcoin and ethereum into limited partnerships (LPs), then charging management fees in the structure of “1 and 15”—that is, 1% of assets under management (AUM) plus 15 basis points of gains.
