CHONGQING, CHINA – JULY 17: In this photograph illustration, an individual holds a bodily illustration of a Bitcoin (BTC) coin in entrance of a display displaying a candlestick chart of Bitcoin’s newest value actions on July 17, 2025 in Chongqing, China. (Photo illustration by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Cheng Xin | Getty Images News | Getty Images
A significant buying and selling platform within the U.Okay. has issued a stark warning to buyers hoping to money in on relaxed crypto guidelines: cryptocurrencies shouldn’t be in your portfolio.
A longstanding U.Okay. ban on retail buyers having the ability to entry crypto exchange-traded notes (ETNs) was lifted on Oct. 8. Exchange-traded notes are debt devices linked to a number of specified property. In this case, they offer traders publicity to digital tokens by way of using a regulated trade.
The new guidelines sparked a warning from Hargreaves Lansdowne — the U.Okay.’s greatest retail investment platform — which urged British retail buyers to be cautious.
“The HL Investment view is that bitcoin is not an asset class, and we do not think cryptocurrency has characteristics that mean it should be included in portfolios for growth or income and shouldn’t be relied upon to help clients meet their financial goals,” Hargreaves Lansdowne mentioned in a press release.
“Performance assumptions are not possible to analyse for crypto, and unlike other alternative asset classes it has no intrinsic value.”
When U.Okay. officers introduced earlier this yr that the ETN ban could be overturned, they argued the transfer would help “the growth and competitiveness of the U.K.’s crypto industry.” It was hailed by crypto corporations as a serious breakthrough for the sector in Britain.
The authorities additionally dominated on Wednesday that buyers will likely be in a position to maintain crypto ETNs in shares and shares ISA accounts, an account the place up to £20,000 ($26,753) a yr could be invested tax-free.
Big beneficial properties, and large losses
Cryptocurrencies, that are decentralized and due to this fact not regulated by central authorities like governments, have their critics and costs are notoriously unstable. In 2022, a so-called “crypto winter” saw investors lose $2 trillion. Bitcoin — essentially the most generally traded cryptocurrency — has led to main returns for early buyers, nonetheless, and was final seen buying and selling round $121,508.
Bitcoin value
Still, Hargreaves Lansdowne urged buyers to contemplate the dangers hooked up to all cryptocurrencies, together with bitcoin.
“While longer-term returns of bitcoin have been positive, bitcoin has experienced several periods of extreme losses and is a highly volatile investment — much riskier than stocks or bonds,” the corporate mentioned in its assertion this week.
The agency mentioned, nonetheless, that it acknowledged that some traders wished to “speculate with cryptocurrency ETNs,” and that it will due to this fact supply “appropriate clients” the chance to achieve this from early 2026.
Institutional backing
Cryptocurrencies have lengthy divided market watchers, with some main establishments piling into digital property whereas others have warned in opposition to them.
Last month, Morgan Stanley mentioned it was close to offering crypto trading to retail buyers by way of its E-Trade division. The financial institution was the first major U.S. bank to supply rich shoppers entry to bitcoin funds — a transfer that others have since adopted.
JPMorgan, in the meantime, plans to get involved in the stablecoin space, regardless of CEO Jamie Dimon being vocal in his criticism of crypto. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has additionally brazenly lashed out at cryptocurrencies.
Chris Mellor, head of EMEA ETF fairness product administration at Invesco, advised CNBC on Thursday that he believes digital property can supply buyers a hedge in opposition to volatility in additional conventional asset lessons.
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are sometimes considered ‘digital gold’ and questions have been raised around whether bitcoin might one day replace gold as the non-fiat asset of choice,” he mentioned by way of e-mail. “In our opinion, there is room for both in portfolios. With the caveat that correlations can change, in recent months we have observed that bitcoin has displayed a very low correlation with stocks, U.S. Treasuries and gold.”
Meanwhile, Nigel Green, CEO of monetary consultancy DeVere Group, argued that bitcoin’s latest climb previous the $125,000 mark was a sign that digital property have entered the monetary mainstream.
“Investors are no longer treating bitcoin as a curiosity at the edge of the market,” he advised CNBC. “Volatility still exists, but it is now productive volatility, the kind that accompanies price discovery in a maturing market. Short-term swings are inevitable when capital rotates at this scale.”
Green labeled this “a structural realignment, not a temporary rally” for bitcoin, and pointed to the Trump administration’s favorable policy mix as providing additional help for its credibility.
“The hands holding bitcoin have become stronger, more institutional, and more patient,” he added. “Bitcoin, for investors who take a strategic view, remains a solid, enduring investment.”
— CNBC’s Ryan Browne and Hugh Son contributed to this text.