Steve Kurz, the global head of Galaxy Asset Management, anticipates that major wirehouses will ramp up their participation in spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs over the coming year.
“I would be astonished if, within the next year, the top 10 wirehouses aren’t engaged in this… We’re likely to witness institutional FOMO,” he conveyed to FOX Business on February 19, speaking at the Exchange ETF Conference in Miami Beach, Florida.
Kurz’s remarks coincide with a surge in inquiries from financial advisers directed towards companies offering spot Bitcoin ETFs during the event.
Some Advisors Are Banned From Recommending Bitcoin ETFs
The report highlights that certain advisers are presently restricted from recommending spot Bitcoin ETFs to clients until their respective firms conduct thorough due diligence on the products and evaluate their market performance.
These existing limitations suggest potential for institutional adoption in the future, as outlined by Kurz.
The term “wirehouse” lacks a precise definition, leaving ambiguity regarding which firms Kurz specifically anticipates embracing spot Bitcoin ETFs.
However, according to Investopedia, prominent wirehouse firms encompass Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and JP Morgan Chase.
Presently, several online brokerage and robo-advisor platforms, including Fidelity, Robinhood, Charles Schwab, and eToro, facilitate the trading of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Galaxy Asset Management offers the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO), which ranks as the sixth-largest fund of its kind, managing $314 million in assets.
On the day of reporting, the fund recorded a trading volume of $11.35 million.
Major Issuers Discuss Their Bitcoin ETF Launch
The report also noted that Bitwise, Grayscale, and Galaxy shared insights into their successful launches of spot Bitcoin ETFs during a panel discussion, which garnered considerable attention and participation from attendees.
Additionally, the panel addressed the prospect of spot Ethereum ETFs, with executives from all three firms expressing a 50% likelihood of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a spot Ethereum ETF by May.
During the Bitcoin panel discussion, Dave LaValle, Grayscale’s head of ETFs, fielded a question about whether the company would pursue legal action against the SEC if it rejected Grayscale’s request to convert its Ethereum Trust into a spot ETF.
LaValle responded by stating that Grayscale would “have to wait and see and assess the facts,” and he placed the odds of approval at 50% by May.
The SEC is slated to make a decision on VanEck’s spot Ethereum ETF application on May 23, with expectations that it will address other similar applications concurrently.
Reportedly, spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced a significant influx of approximately $2.3 billion last week, nearly doubling the previous week’s inflow of $1.2 billion.
These inflows represented nearly half of the total net inflow since the inception of BTC ETFs, which currently amounts to approximately $5 billion.
Matteo Greco, a research analyst at digital asset investment firm Fineqia International, attributes the recent surge in Bitcoin’s value to the growing demand for BTC ETFs. Last week, the leading cryptocurrency gained approximately 8%, closing at around $52,150.
