Bitwise chief investment officer Matt Hougan said traditional investors are overlooking a structural shift as major financial institutions move deeper into crypto and tokenisation initiatives.
“Everywhere I look, Wall Street is screaming that finance is moving on-chain. Not a little of it; all of it,”
Said Bitwise chief investment, officer Matt Hougan.
Hougan argued that many investors remain anchored to outdated perceptions of crypto as a fringe technology, failing to recognise the scale of infrastructure now being built by established asset managers and banks.
He pointed to rapid growth in tokenised assets, including US Treasurys and commodities approaching $20 billion in value, alongside initiatives such as the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Project Crypto aimed at enabling markets to move on-chain.
Major institutions including BlackRock and Apollo have launched tokenised funds, while banks such as JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are reportedly exploring stablecoin initiatives.
“They’re suffering from ‘the boy who cried wolf’ syndrome,”
Hougan said, referring to crypto-native investors who have become desensitised to repeated claims of institutional adoption.
“There is a large delta between what people think is happening in crypto and what is actually happening,”
Hougan said, adding that the disconnect presents an opportunity to build broad exposure before markets fully price in the transition.