Is Bitcoin's Institutional Adoption Actually A Lie?

**Scott Melker** (0:00)
Their research helped the SEC approve the Bitcoin ETFs. Their dashboards helped expose the FTX collapse before anyone else knew what was happening. They were the first company on earth to launch a physically backed Bitcoin ETP, and they now manage nearly $5 billion in assets.
Today, Adrian and Eli from 21Shares break down where the real money is headed.

**Adrian Fritz** (0:23)
Liquidity will come back, but much more selective. Will we see some rallies? Absolutely. Maybe in certain sub-industries, sub-categories.

**Eli Ndinga** (0:31)
It is going to be about selective investment, fundamental investment in crypto. We may see capital trying to find the next one, the next Zcash, the next Hyperliquid, the next AI platforms.

**Scott Melker** (0:42)
Why the old altcoin seasons are never coming back.

**Adrian Fritz** (0:44)
The altcoin seasons in the past have mainly been liquidity events. It was very easy to make money in crypto. You were just throwing in capital and everything went up, but it wasn't really based on any fundamentals. The altcoin seasons, like we know from the golden times, I would almost say they're not coming back.

**Scott Melker** (1:04)
And why AI agents and invisible blockchains are about to change everything. Let's go.
I guess we should start from the beginning so that everybody knows who you are. Eli, we'll start with you, and then Adrian, maybe talk about your roles and just a very brief background and how you got here.

**Eli Ndinga** (1:34)
Yeah, sounds good. Thanks for having us. I'm the founding team member of 21Shares and global head of research. Joined the company nearly six years ago to be on the research department from scratch, background in venture capital, to invest in fintech and crypto companies, and I've been in this space for the last 12 years.

**Scott Melker** (1:53)
You're up.

**Adrian Fritz** (1:55)
All right. My name is Adrian. I'm the chief investment strategist at 21Shares. Yeah, I help shaping the narrative when it comes to digital assets for our firm, and I strongly support the sales team around the globe, making sure we translate those complex topics into digestible bits.

**Scott Melker** (2:15)
That's what we try to do here. It's very challenging at the point of this show.
So maybe you can give a bit of history of 21Shares, because you guys are really the OGs in what has now become a very popular narrative in space in crypto, but definitely was not when you started, I believe, in 2018 Now everybody talks about ETFs and everything happening in the space, but you were very early.

**Eli Ndinga** (2:39)
Indeed, for sure. But 21Shares was built for the mothers of the co-founders, Vinny and Ophelia, to ensure that they can have easy access to Bitcoin and Ethereum and the long-term assets in an easy way, as easy as buying a stock like the S&P 500 or an APS stock.
They started in Europe, in Switzerland, and then they expanded to several markets, including the US, Latin America, Middle East, etc. But the whole goal at the time was, how do we provide easy access to Bitcoin and crypto in the same way you would basically open a brokerage and a bank account to invest in the stock market or commodities or any other alternative assets? And then we went on to build this juggernaut that manages today nearly $7 billion in assets under management.

**Scott Melker** (3:30)
Anything to add there on that, Adrian?

**Adrian Fritz** (3:33)
Yeah, I mean, I think it's worth highlighting that we were the first issuer globally that launched a physically backed Bitcoin ETP. We were the first to market.
Of course, we are a Swiss company, born and raised in Switzerland, but ever since where we established our presence in Europe, we've been expanding around the globe. And obviously, the US became quite an important strategic market for us as well since the launch of the ETFs over there.

**Scott Melker** (4:03)
And I think we've all been sort of watching with bated breath as the institutional conversation has evolved. I mean, when you started, it was institutions are coming.
Right now, I think it's institutions are here and what are they doing? So, I mean, let's just zoom in on maybe the past year. How would you say that the institutional conversation around digital assets has changed?

**Adrian Fritz** (4:25)
Go for it, Adrian. I would say it's easier to get a meeting in the first place.
And also just how they perceive the topic changed completely. While I would say five years ago, it took a lot for them to even have that conversation because, as you know, there's been a lot of misconceptions when it comes to digital assets, to crypto assets, and it takes many meetings until they truly understand or start even being interested in the topic itself. So I would say what changed over the last year, given all the institutional adoption and the regulatory tailwinds, is that it's much easier in those meetings to make that case for crypto assets within a portfolio. It doesn't say there are no hurdles anymore, but at least I would say we got that stamp of approval that this asset class is here to stay. I think it's quite refreshing because it's been quite an uphill battle over the last five, six years.