‘Palooza in Cryptoland:’ Bitwise predicts ETF surge as bitcoin falls

The government reopening may spark a fresh historic run for recently battered cryptocurrencies.

Bitwise’s Matt Hougan expects legislation to support new investment products in the space.

“It’s going to be ETF Palooza in Cryptoland. I think there’ll be 100 plus launches,” the firm’s chief investment officer told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “We’re going to see a lot of single asset crypto ETPs [exchange-traded products.] What I’m most excited about, though, is the growth of index based crypto ETPs.”

Hougan’s prediction comes during a rough week for digital assets. Bitcoin fell below the $90,000 mark for the first time since April. It traded as high as around $126,000 in early last month.  

Despite the rough stretch, he sees index ETPs becoming one of next year’s biggest crypto stories and ultimately one of the biggest categories for investors.

“This industry will be 10 times bigger than it is today,” added Hougan, whose firm launched the Solana Staking ETF, which tracks the price of cryptocurrency solana, on October 28. It’s down 27% since the launch. But it jumped 9% on Tuesday.

The passive fund holds only solana and stakes nearly all of its SOL on-chain — pledging tokens to help validate transactions and secure the network in exchange for ongoing rewards, similar to interest, according to the firm’s website. Then, those rewards back into the portfolio.

Hougan said those products are aimed at the so-called next buyer of crypto: Investors looking to buy small slices for their portfolios.

“They don’t necessarily have an opinion on ethereum versus solana or bitcoin versus another asset,” he said. “They just want to buy a broad swath of the crypto market and hold it for the long term.” 

Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Tom Lee also sees a profitable shift ahead. Lee, a long-time bitcoin bulls, cites openness from the Trump administration.

“Experimentation and innovation are being encouraged by this administration,” the firm’s head of research and CNBC contributor told “ETF Edge” in the same interview.