Financial Advisors Eye Stablecoins and Tokenization Over Bitcoin, Bitwise Says

Bitcoin is still the headline asset in crypto, but financial advisors are increasingly looking past the orange coin and toward stablecoins and tokenization. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan says that shift is showing up in real conversations with advisors, and it could shape where the next wave of crypto capital goes.

• Advisors are still interested in crypto, but stablecoins and tokenization are getting more airtime than Bitcoin.
• Bitcoin remains the anchor asset even as the discussion expands to payments, settlement, and tokenized assets.
• Institutional crypto interest is broadening, which may matter more for adoption than another round of price-chasing hype.

Hougan said he held eight sales calls in one day with teams representing more than 40 financial advisors, and the striking part was not that crypto came up, but what came first. Their attention leaned more toward stablecoins and tokenization than Bitcoin.

“Their eyes are on stablecoins and tokenization more than bitcoin.”

That matters because financial advisors sit near a very large pool of capital. Hougan noted that advisors oversee more than $175 trillion in assets, which makes them one of the biggest potential sources of future crypto inflows. They do not move like meme traders, of course. They move slowly, cautiously, and with a thousand compliance forms between them and a decision. But when they do move, the capital tends to be serious.

Bitwise’s 2026 Bitwise/VettaFi survey helps explain why Hougan sees this as more than a passing curiosity. The survey found that 56% of advisors owned crypto personally, while 42% could buy crypto in client accounts. That is not fringe behavior anymore. That is traditional finance quietly warming up to digital assets, even if some of it is still done with the nervous energy of someone touching a hot stove.

The big takeaway is not that Bitcoin is being dumped in favor of everything else. Hougan was careful on that point. Bitcoin still tends to lead crypto recoveries because it is the largest and most established asset, and he said a price around $60,000 looked attractive for long-term investors. The memo was describing a change in conversation, not an abandonment of Bitcoin.

That distinction is important. Bitcoin still has the cleanest monetary thesis in the sector: scarcity, decentralization, censorship resistance, and a simple proposition that does not require a 47-slide pitch deck to explain. But advisors are increasingly asking about the parts of crypto that look less like a speculative trade and more like usable financial infrastructure.

That means two themes in particular: stablecoins and tokenization.

Stablecoins are crypto assets designed to stay close to the value of a fiat currency, usually the U.S. dollar. In plain English, they are digital dollars that can move around blockchains fast and cheaply. They are already being used for payments, transfers, trading, and settlement. That is why they keep showing up in serious conversations. Stablecoins are not just another “number go up” instrument. They are a working piece of market plumbing, and unlike much of legacy finance, they actually move at internet speed.

The scale is getting hard to ignore. Fiat-backed stablecoin supply crossed $319 billion in April 2026, and adjusted transaction volume reached $10.9 trillion in 2025. That is a real market with real usage, not some tiny side quest for crypto geeks and yield farmers.

Tokenization is the other big draw. Tokenization means taking a real-world asset and representing ownership of it on a blockchain as a digital token. That asset might be a Treasury bill, a fund, a bond, or another financial product. The pitch is straightforward: easier transfer, faster settlement, and more flexible access. The reality, as always, is more complicated. Finance loves to wrap old inefficiencies in new buzzwords, charge fees on top, and call it innovation.

Still, the numbers suggest this is more than a marketing exercise. Tokenized real-world assets crossed $29 billion by April 2026, while tokenized U.S. Treasuries grew from $380 million in 2023 to $13.4 billion by April 2026. That kind of growth is why financial advisors and crypto adoption are starting to intersect in a more practical way.

Hougan said future advisor interest may flow first into assets tied to these themes rather than into Bitcoin alone. Names that came up in discussions included Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Chainlink, Avalanche, Hyperliquid, Figure, Circle, and Coinbase.

That list is revealing. Ethereum and Solana are obvious beneficiaries if tokenization in finance keeps gaining traction, since both are heavily tied to on-chain activity and financial applications. Chainlink matters because tokenized systems need reliable data feeds and infrastructure. Circle stands to benefit from stablecoins adoption, especially through USDC. Coinbase remains a major on-ramp for institutions and advisors who want exposure without building their own crypto infrastructure from scratch.

Canton, Avalanche, Hyperliquid, and Figure show that the market is thinking beyond the usual Bitcoin-versus-Ethereum binary. Canton is tied to tokenization and institutional blockchain use cases. Avalanche continues to pitch itself as a platform for financial applications. Hyperliquid has been attracting attention in trading and on-chain market structure. Figure is part of the tokenization and lending conversation. The common thread is simple: advisors are starting to ask which rails matter, not just which token has the loudest fan club.

Hougan also noted that advisors have not left crypto during the bear market. That point should not be brushed aside. Bear markets usually wash out the tourists and the yield-chasing cosplay crowd. If advisors are still showing up, it suggests the category has staying power beyond speculative mania.

“The fact that they remain interested despite the pullback is good news.”

That said, there is a very real devil’s-advocate case here. Stablecoins and tokenization are hot for good reason, but neither is magic.

Stablecoins depend on issuers, reserve management, and regulatory trust. If the reserves are shaky or the issuer becomes a political or legal target, the whole “digital dollar” pitch can get ugly fast. Tokenization has its own problems. Putting an asset on-chain does not automatically make it liquid, legal, or useful. If the underlying rights are messy, the custody setup is clunky, or the market depth is thin, you have not fixed finance. You have just put a blockchain sticker on the problem.

And yes, Bitcoin maximalists have a legitimate point too. Much of the broader crypto market still rides on the credibility, liquidity, and brand gravity that Bitcoin helped establish in the first place. Bitcoin remains the benchmark asset. It is the reserve reference point. It is what many institutions understand first. You do not need to love every altcoin, stablecoin issuer, or tokenization pitch to see that Bitcoin helped open the door.

But the market is no longer just a one-asset story. It is becoming a broader financial infrastructure story, and that shift is exactly why financial advisors and crypto are ending up in the same meeting more often.

For readers trying to make sense of the change, the simplest framing is this: Bitcoin still matters as the cleanest form of scarce digital money, while stablecoins and tokenization may be the next layer of utility that pulls in more conservative capital. One is the monetary base. The others are the rails and applications that may make the sector useful to the broader financial system.

That does not mean the old Bitcoin thesis is dead. Far from it. It means the conversation is maturing. Advisors are not only asking, “Should we own Bitcoin?” They are asking, “What does crypto actually do for payments, settlements, and asset markets?” That is a much more serious question, and it is one that can bring in capital that never cared about the usual speculative noise.

• Why are financial advisors paying more attention to stablecoins?
  Because stablecoins are already useful for payments, transfers, trading, and settlement, which makes them easier to explain than pure speculation.
• Is Bitcoin losing relevance?
  No. Bitcoin still leads many crypto recoveries and remains the most established digital asset. The shift is in the conversation, not a rejection of Bitcoin.
• What is tokenization in finance?
  Tokenization is the process of representing real-world assets, such as Treasuries or funds, as blockchain-based digital tokens.
• Why do financial advisors matter for crypto adoption?
  Advisors influence huge pools of capital. If they become comfortable with crypto, the inflows could be massive.
• Which assets could benefit from advisor interest?
  Hougan pointed to Ethereum, Solana, Canton, Chainlink, Avalanche, Hyperliquid, Figure, Circle, and Coinbase.
• Are stablecoins and tokenization risk-free?
  No. Stablecoins rely on reserves and trust, while tokenized assets still depend on legal rights, custody, and liquidity.

The big signal here is not that Bitcoin got benched. It is that crypto adoption by advisors is broadening beyond “buy the hardest money and wait.” Stablecoins and tokenization are dragging the conversation toward real-world utility, and that is exactly where a lot of the next capital may come from.