Financial advisers serving some of the world's largest institutions are increasingly turning their attention to stablecoins and tokenization, moving beyond Bitcoin as their primary lens for evaluating cryptocurrency exposure, according to Matt Hougan, chief investment officer at Bitwise Asset Management.

Hougan disclosed the findings in a note published Wednesday, following conversations with more than 40 advisers over the course of the week. He described the pattern as a meaningful shift in how the professional advisory community perceives the opportunity set in digital assets.

Bitcoin Loses Ground in Adviser Conversations

Bitcoin has struggled to sustain momentum in 2026, declining nearly 30% year-to-date to trade around $62,500. Hougan noted that engagement on Bitcoin was notably subdued across many of his advisory conversations this week, with interest redirecting toward blockchain applications that have more visible traction in traditional financial workflows.

"It was pretty hard to engage with advisors on Bitcoin this week," Hougan wrote. "In call after call, they expressed much more curiosity over the real-world applications of crypto that are quickly reshaping everything from capital markets to global payments."

Stablecoins and Tokenization Take Centre Stage

Stablecoin issuer Circle delivered one of the most closely watched public market debuts of 2025, pricing its IPO at $31 per share before shares rallied to a peak of $240. The stock has since retreated to around $79, but the listing cemented institutional awareness of stablecoin infrastructure as a serious financial services category.

At the same time, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly evaluating a framework that would permit tokenized stock trading, a development Hougan believes could provide the regulatory clarity needed to draw a new cohort of institutional investors into the digital asset market.

Preferred Platforms for the Next Investment Wave

Among the networks and companies that featured most prominently in Hougan's conversations were Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Chainlink, and Avalanche, along with trading platform Hyperliquid and financial services firms Circle, Coinbase, and Figure. The breadth of the list underscores that adviser interest is not concentrated in any single protocol but spans the infrastructure layer of the crypto economy.

Hougan argued that the involvement of financial advisers and institutional investors could serve as the catalyst for crypto's next bull cycle, drawing a parallel to previous market cycles that were driven by new product breakthroughs and the entry of new investor classes.

Broader Institutional Momentum

The findings align with a broader pattern of traditional finance leaders elevating blockchain-based financial infrastructure in public commentary. SEC Chair Paul Atkins, Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon, and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink have each addressed stablecoins and tokenization in recent appearances on major financial media outlets, lending the technologies a level of mainstream credibility that was largely absent during earlier crypto market cycles.

Major crypto exchanges, including Coinbase, have begun expanding into adjacent business lines, offering tokenized equities in certain jurisdictions as investor appetite for stock exposure via blockchain platforms continues to grow.