Bitcoin and crypto seem to be on the verge of mainstream adoption, with US spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) shattering inflow records, Goldman Sachs holding more crypto ETF shares issued by BlackRock than any other institution, and corporate treasuries from Strategy to Bitmine embracing digital assets.

However, a recent survey from Bank of America showed three-quarters of global fund managers remain steadfast in their refusal to touch digital assets.

According to Max Gokhman, deputy chief investment officer for Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions, the paradoxical numbers aren’t due to regulatory uncertainty or operational complexity, as those barriers have largely been addressed.

In an interview with CryptoSlate, Gokhman said the skewed numbers stem from fear, misconception, and the industry’s struggle with abandoning deeply held beliefs about what constitutes legitimate investment.

Gokhman spent years watching traditional finance grapple with the digital asset revolution. He noted:

“The biggest reason is it takes a while for an established industry to realize that they’re falling behind. There’s this fear of the unknown that exists.”

The stewardship paradox

Fund managers pride themselves on fiduciary responsibility, but this protective instinct has created a paradox: the desire to safeguard client assets prevents managers from accessing opportunities their clients increasingly demand.

According to Gokhman:

“Part of being a good steward is being aware of what your clients want. Clients from retail to institutional level are more interested in digital assets, but they’re finding that their investment managers are not actually there with solutions.”

The resistance stems from persistent misconceptions. One notion is that it’s all hyper-speculative and lacks value, while the other is that there is a lack of staff with the expertise to create legitimate investment solutions using digital assets.

The memecoin trap

When Gokhman encounters skeptical colleagues, the conversation follows a predictable script. Traditional finance stalwarts mention memecoins as representative of the entire crypto ecosystem, revealing what he called a surface-level understanding.

Just as equity markets span from blue-chip dividends to speculative biotechs, digital assets range from established protocols generating real revenue to purely speculative tokens.

His response has become automatic: 

“Because you invest in equities, does that mean you’re only buying pink sheet penny stocks? High-yield debt has plenty of companies that most rational investors wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. Most asset managers will tell you they own emerging market equities and distressed debt. That’s a key asset class for them.”

Gokhman stressed that the skepticism is selective. Managers are comfortable holding Venezuelan bonds, instruments that have defaulted multiple times, while balking at Bitcoin, which has never missed a payment in 15 years.

While fund managers debate crypto’s legitimacy, the market has quietly transformed. The data Gokhman cited punctures the retail narrative: 89% of Bitcoin transactions on exchanges exceed $100,000. He highlighted:

“That’s not retail money. The market is becoming more institutionalized.”

Educational challenge

Franklin Templeton’s response involves a three-tier campaign targeting central bankers, institutional intermediaries, and retail investors. The middle tier, which is crucial, consists of wirehouses and platform owners who control access to millions yet remain ignorant of client demand.

Gokhman questions these players about whether they asked their clients if they wanted crypto. He adds: 

“They may have a Coinbase account where they have most of their wealth. You’re just not capturing that.”

Traditional advisors often discover wealth sits fragmented across platforms, with professionally managed portfolios containing none of the digital assets clients accumulate independently.

Franklin Templeton’s breakthrough lies in translation: expressing blockchain concepts in traditional finance language. When analyzing Solana, they don’t invoke revolutionary rhetoric but calculate discounted cash flows.

Gokhman explained:

“If you have something like Solana where actual fees are being paid on every transaction, we can project the growth of those transactions. Those are future cash flows. We can discount them back to the present.”

The approach demystifies digital assets by applying familiar analytical frameworks that any investor with basic valuation training can understand.

It all comes to yield

As Federal Reserve rate cuts approach, Gokhman sees opportunity. Traditional yield sources offer diminishing returns just as institutions face mounting pressure to generate income, and crypto can provide an alternative.

According to him:

“Everyone needs income. Staking is one clear way to do it. When people tell me about being worried about this [crypto] all being a scam, well, have you worried about the government just canceling all the debt? Because I’ve had that happen.”

Recent SEC guidance on liquid staking represents a potential inflection point. For the first time, regulated products can offer staking yields without requiring direct crypto ownership.

If crypto ETFs with staking enabled are approved, Gokhman predicts the resistance cannot persist indefinitely. He predicted:

“When we can give the yield, I think it’s going to drive even more adoption.”

The transformation will likely accelerate suddenly. Institutional adoption often follows the pattern of persisting skepticism until competitive pressure forces mass movement.

The great crypto divide persists between the 75% of fund managers clinging to familiar frameworks and a growing coalition recognizing that client service requires embracing technological change. 

The question isn’t whether this divide will close, as economic pressure guarantees eventual adoption. The question is which managers will lead and which will scramble to catch up.

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Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has activated the National Guard in response to a crippling cyberattack that struck the City of Saint Paul, the state’s capital, on Friday.

The city is currently working with local, state, and federal partners to investigate the attack and restore full functionality, and says that emergency services have been unaffected.

However, online payments are currently unavailable, and some services in libraries and recreation centers are temporarily unavailable.

“While many city services remain available, some may be temporarily delayed or disrupted due to limited system access. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to bring systems fully back online,” the city says.

The attack has persisted through the weekend, causing widespread disruptions across the city after affecting St. Paul’s digital services and critical systems.

“St. Paul officials have been working around the clock since discovering the cyberattack, closely coordinating with Minnesota Information Technology Services and an external cybersecurity vendor. Unfortunately, the scale and complexity of this incident exceeded both internal and commercial response capabilities,” reads an emergency executive order signed on Tuesday.

“As a result, St. Paul has requested cyber protection support from the Minnesota National Guard to help address this incident and make sure that vital municipal services continue without interruption.”

​The decision to deploy cyber protection support from the Minnesota National Guard comes at the city’s request, after the cyberattack’s impact exceeded St. Paul’s incident response capacity.

This will ensure the continuity of vital services for Saint Paul residents, as well as their security and safety while ongoing disruptions are being mitigated.

“We are committed to working alongside the City of Saint Paul to restore cybersecurity as quickly as possible,” Governor Walz said on Tuesday.

“The Minnesota National Guard’s cyber forces will collaborate with city, state, and federal officials to resolve the situation and mitigate lasting impacts.”

Minnesota’s capital city has a population of over 311,000 and is the state’s second-largest city, after Minneapolis.

The move began around 21:00 UTC on Sunday, when bitcoin spiked more than $2,500 in less than an hour — a pattern that can be attributed to thin weekend liquidity and potential algorithmic buying triggered by technical levels.

Such price action was a textbook short squeeze followed by aggressive profit-taking or stop-run. A short squeeze happens when traders betting against a price (short sellers) are forced to buy the asset as it rises, to cover their losses, which pushes the price even higher and often very quickly.

The sudden move wiped out over $460 million in long positions and $220 million in shorts, across futures tracking majors like ether (ETH), solana (SOL), and dogecoin (DOGE).

The liquidation wave was notable for occurring during traditionally quiet weekend hours, an unusual event that marks forced selling or buying activity by a major player.

SOL, DOGE and XRP prices are down more than 4% in the past 24 hours, data shows, with the broad-based CoinDesk (CD20) down more than 2%.

The volatility follows a week of macro uncertainty, with Moody’s cutting the U.S. credit rating on Friday and inflation fears resurfacing after mixed economic data. The downgrade also led to U.S. 30-year treasury yields breaching the 5% mark.

While crypto has broadly benefited from renewed institutional inflows and spot ETF momentum, traders remain cautious at current price levels, as reported.

Bitcoin is flat over the past week, but the recent failure to hold above $106,000 — a key psychological and technical level — may signal near-term resistance, FxPro’s Alex Kuptsikevich told CoinDesk last week.

Meanwhile, some traders anticipate higher volatility in the days to come in a warning sign for those looking to leverage their bets.

“Investors are shifting capital to Bitcoin as concerns grow over a pending US spending bill that could add trillions in debt and push for higher Treasury premiums,” Haiyang Ru, co-CEO of the HashKey Business Group, told CoinDesk in a Telegram message.

“But while bitcoin hovers just below new highs, we anticipate more market volatility as traders prepare for new trade deals and a final version of the fiscal policy,” Ru added.

Read more: U.S. 30-Year Treasury Yield Breaches 5% Amid Moody’s Rating Downgrade, Fiscal Concerns

Prominent crypto analytics firm Swissblock says Bitcoin (BTC) may have yet to find a market bottom despite the US enacting a 90-day tariff pause.

Swissblock says on the social media platform X that Bitcoin’s momentum to the upside is not yet a sign of a convincing breakout.

“Don’t let your guard down yet! The 90-day trade war extension eases tensions, but we’re not out of the woods. Bitcoin breaks $78,000-$79,000, now holding above $80,000. Are we in the clear?”

Swissblock says the Bitcoin Risk Signal – which uses several indicators, including price data, on-chain data and a selection of other trading metrics to gauge whether BTC is at risk of a major drawdown – is not yet indicating a market bottom has been reached.

“Market risk must ease for a true bottom. It’s under control but still elevated, not in a low-risk regime yet. We need to see a clear decline in risk.”

According to Swissblock, Bitcoin remains in a downtrend.

“For the bottom to progress, market trend must signal formation.

We’re in a downtrend phase, normal in bottoming cycles: bottom-downtrend-uncharted.

The bottom is close, but not confirmed.”

Swissblock says that for Bitcoin to confirm a bullish reversal, the flagship crypto asset needs to hold $80,000 as support.

“Bitcoin must hold $80,000 and consolidate to break the downward compression. Strength and volume are key for a bullish shift.”

Bitcoin is trading for $83,221 at time of writing, up 4.7% in the last 24 hours.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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My first involvement in Zcash was nearly ten years ago. At the time, Zooko was trying to raise funding to build Zcash, and I gave him some feedback on his investor pitch. We stayed in contact, and I became an advisor to the Zerocoin Electric Coin Company (as ECC was then known). About a month before Zcash launched, I joined the ECC team full-time, and so I was there when we launched Zcash from the kitchen of an Airbnb in the Bay Area, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 

For the next four years at ECC, and then for another four years at the Zcash Foundation, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some of the smartest and most dedicated people I’ve ever met. In that time, I’ve watched the Zcash ecosystem grow and become decentralised. As well as ECC and the Foundation, we now have QEDIT, Shielded Labs, the Financial Privacy Foundation, ZecHub, ZingoLabs, and a bunch of other teams that are funded by the Zcash Community Grants program, all of whom contribute to or support the Zcash mission in a variety of ways. 

As the Zcash ecosystem and community grows and evolves, so must the institutions that steward and support it, and that is especially true of the Foundation. 

As Executive Director, it has been my responsibility and privilege to serve the Zcash Foundation team, the Zcash community, and the Zcash mission for the past four years. One of my responsibilities as ED is to recognise when the time is right to step aside, to allow someone else to take the helm. 

I believe that time has come, and so I am stepping down from the role of Executive Director of the Zcash Foundation. 

Alex Bornstein is taking over as interim ED. Alex is eminently qualified, with prior experience as ED of a 501(c)(3), and nearly four years as ZF’s COO. In that role, he has ably supported and advised me, and I look forward to returning the favour while the ZF Board begins the process of recruiting a permanent ED who will lead ZF through the coming evolution of its role.

I want to thank the Zcash Foundation team and Board members — past and present — for granting me their trust, support and patience over the past four years. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work full-time on a project that aligns as strongly with my principles as Zcash does. 

To preempt any speculation or rumours: I am not leaving to take up another role, and there is no rancour or disagreement between the ZF Board and me. 

I will continue to support the Zcash Foundation in any way I can, and I will continue to support and contribute to the broader Zcash mission as a community member.

— Jack Gavigan, former Executive Director