Pantera Capital general partner Cosmo Jiang said investors who have missed out on the cryptocurrency wave still have a chance to get in, as most people don’t own any.
Bitcoin (BTC) recently crossed over $126,000 for the first time, hitting its new all-time high, but Jiang said in a Monday episode of CNBC’s Fast Money that most investors are still on the fence with zero exposure to digital assets.
“There’s a Bank of America survey from a few weeks ago that showed more than 60% of investors still own 0% exposure to digital assets,” he said.
“That’s quite a lot. And so the idea that digital assets, it’s too late in the game, isn’t true if most people don’t own it.”
Crypto ownership still has plenty of room to grow
The National Cryptocurrency Association’s 2025 State of Crypto report, released in May, found that only one in five American adults, just 21%, own at least some form of cryptocurrency.
On a global scale, the United Arab Emirates leads countries in crypto adoption, though still only 25.3% of the population holds any, according to a September report from the ApeX Protocol.
Tom Bruni, head of markets at Stocktwits, told Cointelegraph in September that Bitcoin’s frequently rising price could be scaring away investors who think they have already missed the boat.
Bitcoin is now seen as legitimate; it’s time for altcoins to shine
Along with the market still having a large runway for growth, Jiang also said that from Pantera’s perspective, the last few years have all been about “legitimizing Bitcoin,” and now that people “get it,” it’s time for altcoins to take their turn in the spotlight.
“The next step. And really what Congress legislation is really enabling is for the rest of the digital assets to really have their place. Ethereum, Solana,” he said.
“These things are large tech platforms that are now growing at a rapid pace. And we believe Solana is on pace to be what could be the next generation mega-cap tech company.”
US President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law in July, which aims to regulate stablecoins; however, it’s still awaiting final regulations to be implemented. The crypto market structure legislation in the US, the CLARITY Act, is also still in the works and tipped to hit Trump’s desk by the end of the year.
Digital assets are still being embraced
People might still be waiting on the sidelines, but Jiang said Bitcoin is still seeing solid flows from profit takers to new buyers amid “overwhelming demand” in the exchange-traded funds.
Related: Bitcoin in consolidation as treasuries eye altcoins: Novogratz
“This year is all about so many headwinds becoming tailwinds for crypto, especially around this idea of equity investors embracing digital assets in a big way,” he said.
“We’ve seen the flows really start to pour in. From the ETF perspective, the ETF inflows to the Bitcoin ETFs have now exceeded the amount that’s coming to the Nasdaq since launch, which is pretty crazy to think about.”
Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded a net inflow of $3.24 billion last week, nearly matching their record week in November 2024.
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