Spot Bitcoin ETFs solved access, but custody, advisors and plumbing still lag, panelists say

FinanceShareShare this articleCopy linkX iconX (Twitter)LinkedInFacebookEmailSpot Bitcoin ETFs solved access, but custody, advisors and plumbing still lag, panelists saySenior figures from CoinShares, Calamos, ProShares and Flow Traders flagged Coinbase-heavy custody concentration, modest advisor uptake and creation-flow inefficiency as being among the next set of problems to solve.By Jeffrey Albus|Edited by Nikhilesh De May 6, 2026, 9:57 p.m. 3 min readMake preferred on What to know: Spot Bitcoin ETFs solved crypto’s long-running access problem by putting bitcoin exposure inside a familiar brokerage and wealth-management wrapper.Advisor adoption remains modest relative to the size of the wealth-management market, with client-communication risk still limiting broader allocations.Custody concentration and inefficient creation flows remain key structural issues as bitcoin ETFs mature beyond their launch phase.Spot bitcoin ETFs cleared crypto's long-standing access hurdle by placing bitcoin inside brokerage and advisor accounts already used for stocks and bonds. Two and a half years in, panelists at CoinDesk's Consensus Miami conference agreed that part had worked. However, they said custody concentration, modest advisor uptake and back-office plumbing all remain unresolved.Christopher Russell, head of strategic planning and analysis at Calamos Investments, framed the access win in numbers. "The ETF solved one big problem, which was access," he said. The roughly dozen US spot bitcoin ETFs now hold around $107 billion in combined assets, with about $20 billion in institutional hedge funds, $12.5 billion allocated by registered investment advisors, and 60% sitting in direct retail accounts.Out of $146 trillion in advisor-managed AUM, that $12.5 billion advisor allocation "seems like a big number, but it's a really small number," Russell said. He pointed to what he called the 1% problem: "They can take a 1% position in a 50-60 vol asset, but they don't want to spend 50…

Spot Bitcoin ETFs solved access, but custody, advisors and plumbing still lag, panelists say

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