Pantera Capital: it’s not too late to get into crypto
Bitcoin’s push to fresh highs has many newcomers wondering if they missed the boat. Pantera Capital’s Cosmo Jiang says they haven’t. In a CNBC Fast Money interview, he pointed to survey data showing a majority of investors still hold no digital assets – a sign that adoption is early, not late.
Jiang’s core point is straightforward: penetration is low. He referenced a recent Bank of America survey indicating that more than half of respondents report zero allocation to crypto. In his view, that leaves room for multi‑year onboarding as brokerage rails, ETFs and listed “crypto treasury” companies make exposure easier for traditional accounts. External surveys likewise suggest that global crypto ownership remains a minority, reinforcing the idea that broad uptake is still ahead.
Flows are part of his case. Jiang said spot Bitcoin ETF inflows since launch have even eclipsed those into the Nasdaq‑tracking QQQ over the same span, highlighting what he called “overwhelming demand.” He also noted that BlackRock’s iBIT has quickly grown into one of the asset manager’s most profitable funds.
Pantera’s framing is that the last few years “legitimized” Bitcoin, while the next wave could see select altcoins step forward as policy lanes open. Jiang pointed to Ethereum and Solana as large technology platforms growing fast, adding that Solana, in Pantera’s view, has the potential to become a next‑generation mega‑cap tech name.
Policy backdrops matter in this handoff. Jiang referenced the U.S. GENIUS Act on stablecoins and an expected market‑structure bill (the CLARITY Act) as examples of where Washington may give non‑BTC assets clearer guardrails. As those rules harden, he argued, it becomes easier for institutions to own more than just Bitcoin through regulated wrappers.
Jiang also addressed why some listed “digital‑asset treasury” (DAT) companies trade at a premium to the value of the tokens they hold. Passive exposure is available in spot ETFs, he said, but active vehicles can add staking, on‑chain strategies and disciplined accumulation that generate incremental yield. That active layer, in his telling, can justify trading above a simple net‑asset value in certain cases.
He returned to the “digital gold” analogy for Bitcoin – portable, global and permissionless – and suggested that positioning the asset alongside gold’s market could leave substantial upside over time. The argument rests on adoption widening, not on short‑term trading signals.
For newcomers weighing a first allocation, Jiang’s message was less about timing a top and more about access getting easier. ETF rails, exchange integrations and public‑company vehicles mean investors don’t need to run their own custody to get exposure. Whether that translates into broader ownership will be visible in how access channels broaden, any progress on U.S. legislation, and how quickly non‑Bitcoin assets win their own regulated paths.
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