The question facing institutional investors is no longer whether they can buy bitcoin, but how much belongs in their portfolios now that regulatory and accounting barriers have fallen.
That shift represents the payoff from years of regulatory groundwork that finally allowed Bitcoin and Ethereum to operate under the same rules as stocks and bonds, according to new analysis from CoinShares.
For pension funds, insurers and wealth managers previously blocked by compliance concerns, the evolution signals crypto’s full integration into mainstream finance, according to the report. The crypto ETP market reached more than $20 billion as of October 2025, according to ETFBook data cited by CoinShares.
The transformation started accelerating in January 2024, when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs from managers including BlackRock, Inc. and Fidelity Investments. The approvals came after 20 prior rejections, dating back to the Winklevoss twins’ first application in 2013, according to CoinShares.
Ether ETFs followed four months later, giving institutions regulated access to the two largest cryptocurrencies through traditional brokerage accounts for the first time.
But getting products approved solved only half the problem, according to the report. Companies still faced accounting rules that required them to write down bitcoin losses without ever recognizing gains, treating the asset as what accountants call an indefinite intangible.
Fair Value Accounting Removes Corporate Hurdle
The Financial Accounting Standards Board eliminated that barrier with ASU 2023-08, which now requires crypto assets to be measured at fair value each quarter, according to CoinShares. The change put digital assets on the same reporting footing as traditional securities.
Corporate treasurers responded by adding bitcoin to their balance sheets, with listed companies now holding around 1 million BTC, according to the report. Some firms have gone further, issuing bitcoin-backed instruments that treat their holdings as productive capital rather than speculative bets.
The audit industry has adapted alongside, with firms including Deloitte, Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG deploying blockchain-based systems for continuous transaction verification, according to CoinShares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) has piloted tokenized repo transactions that settle in real time rather than the standard two days, the report notes.
CoinShares itself offers exposure through the Coinshares Bitcoin ETF (BRRR ), which holds $631 million in assets and has returned 49.4% over the past year, according to ETF Database.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the CoinShares Crypto ETF Hub.
