Between November 24 and December 2nd we saw three massive moves. JPMorgan filed to launch leveraged products tied to BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF. Nasdaq proposed to quadruple the limits on Bitcoin ETF options from 250,000 to 1 million contracts. Then Vanguard, who always said no to crypto, suddenly reversed course and opened Bitcoin and other crypto ETFs to their ~50 million clients on a platform that oversees around $11 trillion.
This is wild because Vanguard’s leadership was publicly against Bitcoin ETFs just last year. Now they’re effectively offering access to spot Bitcoin exposure to tens of millions of investors. Bank of America is letting 15,000 financial advisors recommend Bitcoin starting January 2026 with allocations between 1 to 4 percent of portfolios.
What makes this interesting is the timing. This all happened while retail investors were panic selling and getting rekt. Institutions basically waited for retail to capitulate then swooped in with their infrastructure fully built out. Sovereign wealth funds like Abu Dhabi Investment Council increased their Bitcoin positions as regular people were exiting.
But here’s the catch – while institutions are embracing Bitcoin through ETFs and derivatives, index providers like MSCI are simultaneously trying to exclude companies like Strategy that buy Bitcoin directly for their treasuries. MSCI proposed removing these companies from major indices, which would force them out of a lot of passive funds.
So Bitcoin is getting institutionalized but mainly through fee-generating products that banks and asset managers control. The original model of companies holding Bitcoin directly on balance sheets is facing obstacles, while ETF models that generate recurring revenue for financial firms are getting pushed hard.
Bitcoin was supposed to work around the traditional system but now it’s basically being absorbed into it.
Thoughts on this shift?
submitted by /u/Gullible-Tale9114
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