ETF Demand Has Surpassed Expectations

• James confirms that spot Bitcoin ETFs are the most successful ETF launch in history by every metric: assets, flows, and volume.

• Over $55 billion in net inflows since launch, with total AUM now exceeding $150 billion across spot products.

• More than 1.3 million BTC (roughly 6.6% of total supply) is now held in ETFs, with expectations for continued growth.

• Institutional demand has largely come from hedge funds (via basis trades) and RIAs, who are slowly overcoming platform restrictions.

• Advisor allocations are increasing, but many wealth platforms still limit access or require manual client requests—highlighting how early this trend still is.

• The team emphasizes that ETF demand is no longer just a retail phenomenon—it’s now a major institutional access point.

Breaking Through TradFi Resistance

• Seyffart outlines the main reasons traditional finance professionals struggle with Bitcoin:

  • Lack of cash flows (conflicts with CFA-style valuation frameworks).

  • Association with fraud and broader crypto scandals.

  • Ego and psychological aversion to an investment they missed.

• Larry Fink’s turnaround was highlighted as a major unlock—he moved from calling Bitcoin a tool for money laundering to endorsing it as a hedge against currency debasement.

• The BlackRock endorsement gave advisors permission to explore Bitcoin seriously, acting as “air cover” for hesitant allocators.

• Even so, firms like Vanguard are still blocking access, reflecting deep cultural resistance rooted in old paradigms.

Bitcoin and Gold: Macro Assets Reasserting Themselves

• Both gold and bitcoin are outperforming other asset classes in 2025; #1 and #2 YTD performance, respectively, highlighting their return to prominence as macro hedges.

• Seyffart views gold and Bitcoin as complementary assets, not competitors. Bitcoin is the higher volatility, ‘call option’ on store of value assets.

• He rejects the idea of imminent dollar collapse, but sees structural debasement (2–4% annually) as a long-term driver of sound money demand.

• The conversation highlights how younger generations are structurally disadvantaged, priced out of homeownership, seeing real earnings lag asset inflation, and more open to Bitcoin as a response.

• Institutions that ignore gold or Bitcoin entirely are becoming increasingly disconnected from real macro shifts.

Custody, Risk, and the Coinbase Question

• Coinbase now custodies the vast majority of ETF assets, with no real institutional diversification yet implemented.

• Seyffart views Coinbase as a de facto SIFI (Systemically Important Financial Institution) for the Bitcoin ETF market.

• The team raises concerns about counterparty concentration risk and parallels to legacy banking crises.

• A new generation of allocators may push for more secure, redundant custody models as awareness grows.

• Onramp’s multi-institution custody model is mentioned as a solution for eliminating single points of failure.

Portfolio Construction and the New Default

• ‘Bitcoin-savvy’ advisors continue recommending 1–5% allocations to clients, while personally holding 30% or more.

• The conversation highlights a major disconnect between public recommendations and actual portfolio behavior in the space.

• Seyffart argues that zero is no longer the default, Bitcoin is a multi-trillion-dollar asset, and holding zero is now an active underweight.

• The Harvard endowment’s 0.2% position reflects a market-cap-weighted neutral allocation, providing cover for other institutions to follow suit.

• Most institutions are still in the early innings of their Bitcoin journey, the real demand unlock lies ahead.

• Sovereign buyers, RIA access, lending markets, and structured treasury vehicles could all accelerate the next leg of adoption.

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