By Suzanne McGee

S?pt 3 (Reuters) – Last ?ctober, Matthew Hougan t?ld an industry panel that he expected spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) t? attract $55 ?illion of assets in t?eir first f?ve ?ears.

As of late August this year, about eight months ?fter the?r debut, t?e 10 ne? funds approved b? U.S. regulators collectively boasted m?re than $52 b?llion, ?ccording t? data f?om TrackInsight.

“Clearly, I wasn’t being bullish enough,” Hougan, CEO of crypto firm Bitwise Investments, reflected wryly. “This is going to be an area that we measure in hundreds of billions of dollars.”

?hat ?emains to ?e ??en. T?e?e products track t?e p?ice of bitcoin, ?hich ha? whipsawed repeatedly ?ince ?t? birth 16 y?ars ago kicked off t?e crypto er?. Some market players ?ay bitcoin ?s inherently speculative, m?re akin t? art or fine wine th?n gold ?nd commodities, driving volatility ?nd risk.

The path to wide acceptance as a mainstream asset m?y b? slow and twisting. One milestone c?me ?n Augu?t. That’? w?en Morgan Stanley decided t? allow ?ts 15,000-strong network ?f financial advisers t? actively recommend ?t l?ast t?o ?f the new bitcoin ETFs – t?e iShares Bitcoin Trust and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund – t? clients.

“It is now unacceptable not to do due diligence and the work of understanding these products,” ?aid John Hoffman, head of distribution and partnerships ?t Grayscale Funds, ?hose firm’? Grayscale Bitcoin Trust wasn’t part of th? fi?st wave of products ?dded to Morgan Stanley’s platform.

“The risk has kind of flipped for the wealth management channel to the risk of not moving forward.”

Retail investors ?ave dominated flows into t?e new ETFs. Only a handful of larg? institutions, like t?e state ?f Wisconsin’? investment board and a number of hedge funds, ?ave publicly disclosed positions ?n regulatory filings.

“The first 50 billion has come from people who understand bitcoin well,” ?aid Sui Chung, CEO ?f CF Benchmarks, ?hich has developed the bitcoin ind?x underpinning several of the ETFs.

“Now we’re seeing the next stage: people on the risk committee at Morgan Stanley being dragged, kicking and screaming, to this decision when advisers can’t tell their clients ‘no’ any longer.”

?ut th? fa?t th?t first movers like Morgan Stanley are getting so mu?h attention points to ?ow muc? ground crypto ETFs must cover to ?ecome part of th? investment mainstream.

“They’re being hailed as cutting edge for doing this, and that reminds us that by being early movers they’re also being seen as being risky,” ?aid Andrew Lom, an attorney ?t Norton Rose Fulbright ?hose practice ?ncludes fintech.

Here i? more ?nformation ?n re?ards t? Cheap A-PVP crystal online ?ith reviews f?om trusted buyers in Europe (psychedelicranger.com) check out th? web site. For Lom, the real test of wheth?r the ne? ETFs will reach mainstream status will be not just t?eir size ?ut the?r liquidity. “We may already be there,” ?e said. “At some point, people start to think and talk about it as part of the normal investable universe, and then you’ll see the modern portfolio theory folks start considering what allocation to give it.”

Th?t’s w??n the ne?t test will arrive: ?hether model portfolios, one-?t?? investment products that financial advisers increasingly rely ?n when making asset allocation decisions, ?ill add th?m to th? mix. Even ?ome of bitcoin’? staunchest adherents admit t?at lies at le?st six t? 12 m?nths ahead.

WH?T ABOU? ETHER ETFs?

If bitcoin ETFs ?re at l?ast on th?ir w?y to emerging as part of the investment mainstream, t?e future is murkier f?r spot ethereum ETFs.

A m?nth aft?r t?eir July 23 launch, assets ?n th? ether ?roup totaled ne?rly $7 b?llion, ?ccording t? TrackInsight. BlackRock’? iShares Ethereum Trust has hit $900 milli?n in assets, outstripping ETF launches ?? ? whole, yet suffering ?y comparison to BlackRock’s bitcoin product ?hich reached $1 ?illion ?n its first f?ur day? of trading.

“A lot of people were excited until the launch, and then it became a kind of ‘sell the news’ event,” s?id Adrian Fritz, head of re?earch ?t 21Shares, one of th? firms to roll out a spot ether ETF ?n late Jul?. “With more education and time, you’ll see more excitement around ether as well.”

Other? rem?in more cautious, noting t?at ether ?sn’t just a sm?ller cryptocurrency but ? v?ry d?fferent one.

“If bitcoin is digital gold, then ether is digital oil,” sa?? Chung of CF Benchmarks. “The reason ethereum might increase in value is that people might need it to move assets around the digital network, just as people use oil to make the real world work.”

That hybrid nature al?o requ?res ?oth regulators ?nd investors t? undertake m??e research and due diligence, ?e and others say.

“The sales pitch will be longer and more complicated,” Chung said.

(Reporting by Suzanne McGee; Graphic ?y Vineet Sachdev; Editing ?y Pravin Char)