Many crypto investors see exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as a sign of digital currencies going mainstream.

Sure, it doesn’t hurt Bitcoin (BTC +1.03%) holders when the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT +1.59%) picks up $57 billion of Bitcoin assets, followed by $13.5 billion of assets under management in the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC +1.62%). The just-launched Morgan Stanley Bitcoin Trust will surely build serious value pretty quickly, too — familiar fund names tend to have that effect, and this one comes with the lowest management fees in the Bitcoin ETF segment.

Early 2026 seems to be a monumental moment in crypto history, and these digital assets are indeed going mainstream in a big way. But it’s not all about ETFs. Old-school…