The phrase “we are still early” remains a popular sentiment in the crypto community in 2025, suggesting that despite bitcoin’s (BTC) price surpassing $100,000, the overall adoption of digital assets is still in its infancy.

Morgan Stalney’s recent survey of financial professionals confirms this sentiment. The investment banking giant surveyed more than 500 summer interns in North America from June 10 to 27, and 147 summer interns in Europe from June 26 to July 7.

The survey revealed that only 18% of interns own or use cryptocurrencies, increasing from 13% the previous year. Meanwhile, the percentage of interns interested in digital assets has risen to 26% from 23%. Meanwhile, 55% still do not care for digital assets, a majority, although the number has receded from 63% last year.

The widespread lack of interest appears significant, especially considering that BTC has already gained acceptance on Wall Street through the introduction of ETFs.

The 11 spot BTC ETFs have amassed $53.7 billion in investor wealth since their debut in January last year, according to data source Farside Investors. Ether ETFs have registered an inflow of $12.4 billion. Corporations are rapidly adding both assets to their balance sheets.

BTC’s price has surpassed $100,000 this year, gaining a foothold in institutional investor portfolios. Ether hit a record high of over $4,800 on Friday.

More open to AI

The survey revealed a clear adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by future finance industry leaders, with 96% of U.S. interns and 91% of their European counterparts reporting the use of technology at least occasionally.

The consensus is that AI is effective, with nearly all respondents agreeing they “save me time” and are “easy to use”. However, 88% of interns also had a nuanced view, believing the technology still “needs accuracy improvement.”

The widespread adoption is consistent with the sentiment on Wall Street, where the Mag 7 firms are expected to spend $650 billion in capital expenditures and research and development this year.

Trillion dollar humanoids market

The survey revealed that most interns are interested in owning humanoids, or sophisticated machines designed with a human-like form and capabilities, but are cautious about their impact on society.

Over 60% of U.S. interns and 69% of European interns expressed interest in having a humanoid at home, with both regions believing the robots will have “viable use cases” and replace many human jobs.

Still, only 36% of U.S. interns and 24% of Europeans agreed that humanoids will have a positive impact on society.

Morgan Stanley estimates that the humanoid market could surpass $5 trillion by 2050, including sales from supply chains and networks for repair, maintenance and support.

“Although humanoids are still under development, there could be more than 1 billion by 2050, with 90% used for industrial and commercial purposes,” the investment banking giant said in a report in May.

If you are looking at Kinder Morgan (KMI 0.26%) and its 4.1% dividend yield, you should also consider Enterprise Products Partners (EPD -0.06%) and its 6.8% distribution yield. But the reason for preferring Enterprise over Kinder Morgan is only partly to do with the yield, particularly if you are a dividend-focused investor. Here’s what you need to know to decide between these two midstream giants.

What do Kinder Morgan and Enterprise do?

From a big-picture perspective, both Kinder Morgan and Enterprise Products Partners operate in the energy sector. This sector is known for being volatile, thanks to the huge impact that oil and natural gas prices have on the financial results of most energy companies. But not all energy companies, since Kinder Morgan and Enterprise are largely toll takers, charging fees for moving oil and natural gas around the world.

Image source: Getty Images.

Essentially, these midstream players sit between the upstream (energy production) and the downstream (chemicals and refining). The pipelines, storage, and transportation assets they own generate reliable fees, with the price of the commodities moving through their systems far less important than demand for the services they provide. And demand for energy tends to be fairly high even when energy prices are low. So both Kinder Morgan and Enterprise have attractive and reliable business models in what is an otherwise volatile industry.

From this perspective, Kinder Morgan and Enterprise are very similar. They are also very similar when it comes to the size of their asset portfolios, which are among the largest in North America. In fact, both businesses have market caps in the $60 billion to $70 billion range. But they aren’t interchangeable.

Why most investors will likely prefer Enterprise

Midstream investments are generally considered for the reliable income stream they provide to investors. The lofty dividend yields of both Kinder Morgan and Enterprise are part of that story. However, there’s a back history that investors shouldn’t ignore.

In 2016, the energy sector was going through a difficult period. Enterprise increased its distribution. Kinder Morgan cut its distribution by 75%. To be fair, it was the right move for the company, but it was a terrible outcome for income investors. The real problem, however, is that just a couple of months prior to the cut, management was guiding for a dividend increase of as much as 10%.

The cash freed up from the dividend cut was used to strengthen Kinder Morgan’s balance sheet and to invest in growth opportunities. So the cut made the business stronger, with management eventually getting dividend growth back on track. But even here there was a problem. It set out an aggressive dividend growth schedule and then fell short of that plan during the difficult energy market in 2020, during the coronavirus pandemic. In other words, Kinder Morgan has let dividend investors down during each of the most recent energy industry downturns. Enterprise increased its distribution modestly in 2020, but that is basically what it has done for years.

Erring on the side of caution will be the best choice for most investors

In fact, at this point, Enterprise has reliably increased its distribution year in and year out for 26 consecutive years. Kinder Morgan looks like it is in much better financial and business shape today than it was in 2016. And the 2020 dividend miss was reasonable, too, given the uncertainty at the time. But if being able to trust how the management teams of the investments you own address what’s important to you, Enterprise will be the better investment option. And you’ll collect a higher yield while you’re at it.

Several Wall Street banks including JPMorgan Chase are abruptly changing their forecasts for the US stock market.

JPMorgan Chase’s head of global market intelligence Andrew Tyler says the lender’s trading desk is flipping short-term bearish on the stock market amid a deteriorating macroeconomic backdrop, reports Bloomberg.

All in all, the US stock market has wiped out $3.4 trillion this year, giving up all of the gains witnessed since Trump won the election in November.

Tyler’s team sees President Donald Trump’s trade war as a headwind that could limit the US economy’s growth.

“With this in mind, we are changing our view to tactically bearish… Given the uncertainty, positioning, and potential for a negative feedback loop to push people to using the recession playbook, we think the bearish position makes the most sense.” 

Earlier this week, Trump imposed 25% tariffs against both Canada and Mexico, leading to a 500-point drop in the Dow, alongside small drops in the Nasdaq and S&P 500.

As the equity market retreats, Goldman Sachs analyst David Kostin says in an investor note that equity valuations are not yet low enough to trigger a significant bounce. He also believes that the stock market will only regain bullish momentum if the US economy begins to show signs of strength.

“An improvement in the US economic growth outlook will be required to fully reverse the recent equity market weakness.”

On his forecast for stocks this year, Kostin says,

“Equity returns will be more modest than last year and match the trajectory of earnings growth.”

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley believes that the stock market will see “muted” gains this year. Andrew Slimmon, the firm’s head of applied equity advisors team, says stocks have been in a bull market since 2023, leading to concerns that the market may be overvalued.

Slimmon also says that the third year of an equities bull market typically prints mediocre gains on average based on historical data.

“With enough negatives out there, including higher-for-longer interest rates and geopolitical noise, to cause a subpar year, the recently minted optimists could revert to being skeptics, only to have the market roar again in 2026. In that case, 2025 could be more of a pause year than anything more sinister.”

Last year, all three firms predicted that the S&P 500 would soar to greater heights this year, believing that a Trump presidency would create a favorable macroeconomic environment. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley predicted that the S&P 500 will reach a new all-time high of 6,500 points in 2025.

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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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Big banks are quietly scrubbing the public record of their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies following US President Donald Trump’s upheaval of the controversial practice.

Citing banking executives, lawyers and other insiders familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reports that JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are all “watering down” their language on DEI, while Wells Fargo and Bank of America are also starting to analyze their language.

It marks the first time that Wall Street has pulled away from DEI since first embracing it in 2020.

The banks’ pivot is in reaction to Trump’s signing of the executive order titled “Ending Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs And Preferencing” targeting DEI, plus his rescinding of over 80 executive orders signed by former US President Joe Biden that touch on DEI.

Morgan Stanley has reportedly deactivated a page on its website promoting a scholarship and recruiting program that was advertised as being for people who are “historically underrepresented in the financial services industry.”

If the link is reactivated, WSJ reports that Morgan Stanley will most likely reword it so the program is being advertised to a wider array of applicants.

Certain banks have also been warned by their lawyers that keeping DEI practices in place after erasing public affirmations of them leaves them at risk for criticism or potential litigation if whistleblowers alert federal officials or activists.

FOX News reported that workers and civil rights organizations have begun suing to stop Trump’s executive orders, arguing among other things, that they will negatively affect certain groups of people.

White House spokesman Harrison Fields said the Trump administration was “ready to face them in court.”

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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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