In today’s newsletter, Joshua De Vos, head of research at CoinDesk, summarizes their latest crypto ETF report covering US adoption, the speed at which it’s happening and asset concentration.
In Keep Reading, we link to the US and global ETF reports for those who want to dive deeper.
-Sarah Morton
Digital Assets Exchange Traded Product Landscape: Past, Present and Future
Crypto for Advisors – February – Digital Asset ETPs
Digital asset Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) are now one of the clearest signals of how quickly crypto is being integrated into traditional portfolio infrastructure. As presented in CoinDesk’s latest research report, the market has moved beyond the early phase of fragmented access and into a period where regulated exchange-traded fund (ETF) wrappers and distribution are significantly shaping how capital enters the asset class.
Crypto ETP Adoption Status
By the end of 2025, crypto ETP assets under management (AUM) reached $184 billion. The US remains the center of gravity, accounting for approximately $145 billion, or close to 80% of global assets under management. ETFs dominate the product landscape, representing 84.6% of crypto-structured products by assets. The market is also heavily skewed towards simple exposure. About 94.1% of crypto ETPs use a delta-one strategy and 96.1% are passively managed.
The growth in AUM is primarily driven by the launch of US spot bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. The incremental change was immediate. The launch cycle pushed crypto ETP assets significantly higher and created a product category that now sits within the same ETF allocation framework used across stocks, bonds and commodities.
The pace of adoption has also been unusually high compared to previous ETF cycles. US bitcoin ETFs reached $100 billion in assets in just 11 months, while US gold ETFs took nearly 16 years to surpass the same milestone. By early 2025, bitcoin ETFs had matched 91% of the top 10 US gold ETFs by AUM, before gold’s subsequent rally widened the gap. This is less a statement of relative value and more a statement of how quickly bitcoin has been absorbed into institutional distribution channels once the wrapper became available.
Scale and concentration
Within the crypto ETP market, exposure remains highly concentrated. Bitcoin-based products account for $144 billion in AUM, representing 78.2% of total AUM. Ether-based products have reached $26.5 billion, indicating that institutional demand is gradually expanding beyond bitcoin. Outside of these two assets, exposure remains limited. Solana and XRP-linked products manage $3.8 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively, while multi-cryptocurrency ETPs represent 0.62% of total AUM, or $2.16 billion.
The pipeline is being expanded
This hierarchy is consistent with how ETF markets typically develop. Institutions tend to begin with the most liquid assets in the most established structures before expanding to broader exposure as markets deepen and benchmarks standardize. This dynamic is now starting to emerge in the crypto ETP pipeline. By the end of 2025, more than 125 digital asset ETP filings were pending, with bitcoin continuing to lead the filing landscape, followed by XRP and Solana as the most active single asset categories.
The other notable development is the growing momentum behind basket products. Multi-cryptocurrency ETPs remain a small segment of AUM, but they represent the second most active category by number of pending applications. This matters because basket products tend to become more relevant as markets mature, correlations develop and concentration risk becomes more apparent. Indices such as CoinDesk 5 and CoinDesk 20 are increasingly being used as benchmarks for ETPs, structured notes and derivatives, reflecting the market’s gradual shift towards diversified exposure.
Access to advisors
The expansion of crypto ETPs has also come before widespread adoption across major advisory platforms. Many large advisors remain in evaluation or early allocation phases, suggesting that current AUM reflects initial positioning rather than full participation. That is starting to change, with firms like Vanguard only recently expanding client access to crypto ETFs.
Looking ahead, the scale of the global ETF market provides context for how big the category could become. Global ETF and ETP assets are expected to grow to around $30 trillion by 2030. Within that framework, even modest allocation decisions have the potential to translate into a significantly larger crypto-ETP market over time.
This summary was created based on CoinDesk Research’s latest report; Digital Assets ETP Landscape: Past, Present and Future.
– Joshua De Vos, Head of Research Team, CoinDesk
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Read the full global and US ETF reports here:
