Funds that monitor a basket of cryptocurrencies are more likely to rocket in reputation subsequent yr as buyers look to get simple publicity to a broader vary of digital belongings, in accordance with Bitwise funding chief Matt Hougan.
“Crypto index funds are going to be a giant deal in 2026,” Hougan stated in a be aware on Monday. “The market is getting extra advanced and the use circumstances are multiplying.”
He added that whereas the general crypto market is poised to develop, it isn’t potential to foretell which tokens will carry out, so proudly owning a fund that tracks the market is a “excellent spot to start out,” though it’s “not proper for everybody.”
Many exchange-traded fund issuers, together with Bitwise, provide funds that monitor a number of cryptocurrencies, drawing inspiration from indexes such because the S&P 500, which monitor the highest 500 corporations on US inventory exchanges.
Multi-crypto ETFs exist already, with some going stay within the US earlier this yr that maintain crypto in proportion to every token’s market capitalization. Nevertheless, these have seen comparatively modest inflows as they largely maintain Bitcoin (BTC), which at the moment dominates practically 60% of the market, per CoinGecko.
“Purchase the market” as crypto is unknowable
Hougan stated that regardless of his expertise and community of specialists inside crypto, he can’t say “with confidence which chain will win, or exactly how issues will end up.”
“At this stage of crypto’s growth, I’d argue it’s unknowable,” he added. “Outcomes shall be formed by regulation, execution, macro circumstances, the actions of some key people, luck, and 100 different variables.”
“Forecasting all of that accurately would require supernatural foresight.”
Crypto markets rallied from November 2024 to January via Donald Trump’s presidential election and inauguration and have remained elevated on his pro-crypto insurance policies.
Nevertheless, crypto has felt the adverse results of sweeping US tariffs and uncertainty over additional rates of interest cuts as conventional finance turns into extra concerned out there.
“On condition that uncertainty, my method is easy: I purchase the market,” Hougan stated. “Particularly, I purchase a market-cap-weighted crypto index fund.”
He added that crypto “shall be much more necessary in 10 years than it’s immediately,” and the market may develop as much as 20 instances over that point.
Hougan pointed to Securities and Alternate Fee chair Paul Atkins’ touch upon Wednesday that the US monetary system may embrace tokenization in a “couple of years.”
The US fairness market is a ~$68 trillion market. We at the moment have ~$670 million in tokenized shares. https://t.co/IgyJ20oiar
— Matt Hougan (@Matt_Hougan) December 8, 2025
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“Stablecoins will matter extra. Tokenization will matter extra. Bitcoin will matter extra. And I feel a dozen different main use circumstances will comply with: prediction markets, decentralized finance (DeFi), privateness tech, digital id,” Hougan stated.
“I don’t wish to threat selecting the incorrect chain,” he added. “Think about accurately calling a market that goes up 100,000x — and nonetheless underperforming since you backed the incorrect horse.”
“So I take advantage of a crypto index fund because the core of my portfolio,” Hougan stated, “figuring out that, nevertheless crypto evolves, I’ll personal publicity to the potential winners.”
Journal: Solana vs Ethereum ETFs, Fb’s affect on Bitwise — Hunter Horsley