"Younger investors just feel like the traditional playbook isn't working," said Gareth Kay, vice president of brand at Coinbase, about Gen Z and Millennials investing in crypto. Gen Z and Millennials, or younger investors, as the report calls them, say that 25% of their portfolio is in non-traditional assets, including crypto, derivatives, and NFTs. That is three times more than older investors, or Gen X and Baby Boomers, who say that just 8% of their portfolio is tied to such assets.
Until this week, these investors could only buy Bitcoin and Ethereum in ETF form and, based on initial demand, at least one of the new offerings is off to a roaring start. Based on early demand, the hot new offering is an ETF that provides exposure to Solana, the sixth most popular cryptocurrency. According to Eric Balchunas, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, the Bitwise Solana Staking ETF (BSOL) had the best ETF launch of 2025 in any asset class.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently adopted updated standards for ETF listings. Under these rules, ETFs that meet predefined criteria no longer require individual regulatory review, significantly reducing approval times. Industry sources report that the approval process could shrink to 75 days or less, compared with up to 270 days under previous procedures. The new standards are designed to streamline market entry for ETFs tied to a broader range of cryptocurrencies, including solana, XRP, and cardano.