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How to invest in crypto without buying crypto

You don’t have to buy crypto directly to get exposure to the crypto trend. Instead, explore investing in enabling technologies like blockchain and the companies poised to benefit from the growth in digital assets.

November 20, 2025 6 min read

Global crypto owners reached nearly 660 million by the end of December 2024,¹ a testament to the excitement surrounding the growth potential of the crypto market. And there's increasing evidence of the market's maturation as more institutions recognize the long-term growth potential of the asset class—growth potential that often isn’t reflected in many traditional benchmark indices.

In fact, 86% of institutions have exposure to digital assets,² and more than three-quarters of institutions expect to increase their allocations to digital assets in 2025.³And the regulatory outlook on the use of digital assets has continued to improve.

Investing in cryptocurrencies is one approach to gaining investment exposure to the booming crypto theme. Investors that wanted to own crypto assets used to have to set up a crypto wallet or trade on an exchange. But managing a crypto wallet can be confusing, especially for institutions, and trading on an exchange is just another password to remember. With the launch of exchange traded funds (ETFs) that provide exposure to crypto, those worries are gone. But owning crypto coins or tokens alone isn’t for everyone.

The good news here is that you can gain exposure to the crypto industry’s potential growth by investing in a wide range of technologies and companies poised to lead, enable, or benefit from the adoption of digital assets through indirect crypto investing.

What is indirect crypto investing?

Indirect crypto investing involves investing in assets and companies that are thematically related to crypto or investing in crypto through more traditional investment vehicles like mutual funds and ETFs (as opposed to those pesky wallets).

Think of it like this: Crypto is a growing industry that has been maturing, but not yet “mature.” The same was true of the auto industry in the late-19^th and early-20^th centuries. In the early days of the auto industry, investors who bet on car companies likely worried about picking the wrong ones. But other investors chose to invest in the companies that built the roads, refined the oil, or made the engines to get broader exposure to the theme.

Quick Quiz

When did the first spot bitcoin ETFs launch in the US?

October 2021

January 2024

December 2021

Correct!
The first spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in the US in January 2024 following SEC approval.⁴

Not quite.
October 2021 was the launch date of the first futures-based bitcoin ETF, but spot crypto ETFs were not approved until January 2024.⁵

The same logic applies to crypto today. While tokens grab headlines, greater opportunities may lie in the companies enabling digital assets or expanding use cases of blockchain technology. These are the road builders and engine makers of the digital economy. By investing in them, you’re not just chasing the next coin—you’re building the foundation for digital assets.

Investing in crypto ETFs or the infrastructure that enables crypto, blockchain, and digital assets gets you exposure to the crypto universe.

How can you indirectly invest in the crypto theme?

Indirectly invest in the future of crypto by investing in the companies that will enable crypto, facilitate their use cases, or grow from those use cases. Investing in the digital asset ecosystem—blockchain, and other companies in the value chain—enables you to potentially capture the growth in crypto and other tokenized assets as their adoption accelerates.

1. Bitcoin mining stocks

Bitcoin mining stocks represent publicly traded companies that operate equipment dedicated to validating transactions on the bitcoin network and competing to earn rewards in the form of newly issued bitcoin. Over the long term, these companies could benefit from potential increases in crypto prices.

2. Blockchain technology stocks

Blockchain technology enables the creation and trading of tokenized assets and is the foundation of cryptocurrency trading. Blockchain technology stocks could be any company developing blockchain technology, involved in crypto mining or staking, or providing services to companies that are using blockchain.

Blockchain technology has vast applications across various industries, and growth in those uses cases is likely to increase the adoption of digital assets. And, likewise, the increased adoption of crypto may spur further growth of blockchain companies.

3. Infrastructure and crypto-related businesses

A picks-and-shovels investing approach considers investments in companies in sectors and industries that build the infrastructure and provide services that support the larger digital assets ecosystem, including:

Financial services and fintech. The use of blockchain technology and crypto could rapidly evolve the world of finance as payments move to cryptocurrencies and banks look to expand crypto-related services
Payment processors. Further adoption of crypto payments could benefit payment processors as they integrate crypto into their platforms
Crypto exchanges. As crypto gains wider adoption, crypto exchanges could see further growth through higher trading volume
Semiconductors and hardware. Verification of blockchain transactions through crypto mining requires lots of computer power, processing units, and data center support. Companies that build hardware like graphics processing units to run applications that support cryptocurrency and blockchain use cases could continue to see growth
Cybersecurity. As enterprise applications for crypto and blockchain grow, cybersecurity companies that develop solutions to protect against hacking, fraud, and data loss could be both at the forefront of crypto’s growth and poised to benefit from it
Software development. As cryptocurrency and blockchain are more widely adopted across industries, software to run specific applications may be needed

4. Crypto-related ETFs

You can gain exposure to crypto and related technologies through the ETF wrapper in your regular brokerage account through:

Crypto industry ETFs. These are baskets of securities related to digital assets that trade throughout the day on an exchange just like a single stock. In addition to value chain exposures, these funds may also invest in cryptocurrency itself, may contain stocks that operate in the crypto industry, or stocks of companies that work in tangential industries
Spot crypto exchange traded products (ETPs). The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot bitcoin ETPs in January 2024, after several failed bids. Spot crypto ETPs seek to track the price of one specific crypto asset
Crypto futures ETFs. Holding futures contracts enables investors to gain indirect exposure to movements of a specific crypto, without owning them

Crypto investing is about more than tokens

Cryptocurrencies are just one component of the digital assets ecosystem. As with any technological revolution, it takes more than one headline product or use case to move an industry forward. Crypto can’t drive without the roads and engines—the infrastructure that powers it. These are the builders, the enablers, the ones laying the foundation for the future of the digital economy and financial markets.

And crypto’s integration to financial markets is only getting started, representing a thematic investing opportunity with large growth potential that’s underrepresented in traditional indices. Other breakthrough technologies, like AI, could help accelerate blockchain and crypto adoption. By working together across connected value chains, they can amplify innovation and compound growth across the digital asset ecosystem.

Frequently asked questions

What are crypto-related stocks?

What are the benefits of investing in crypto ETFs instead of directly in coins?

How does exposure to blockchain companies offer indirect crypto investment?

What are crypto-mining stocks and how do they work?

Can you invest in digital asset funds without buying crypto directly?

Glossary

Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of records (blocks) that are securely linked together via an algorithm. This public ledger records all transactions that have ever been executed on that blockchain. Blockchains are constantly growing, as completed ‘blocks,’ or transactions, are added in a linear, chronological order. Every computer connected to the bitcoin network gets a copy of the blockchain which, in theory, makes the whole system more secure as more computers, or “nodes”, become part of the blockchain.

Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency, or crypto, is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

Exchange
The marketplace where securities, commodities, derivatives and other financial tools such as ETFs are traded. Exchanges, such as stock exchanges, allow for fair and orderly trading and efficient circulation of securities prices. Exchanges give firms looking to market publicly listed securities the platform to do this.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)
An ETF is an open-ended fund that provides exposure to underlying investment, usually an index. Like an individual stock, an ETF trades on an exchange throughout the day. Unlike mutual funds, ETFs can be sold short, purchased on margin and often have options chains attached to them.

Fintech
Shorthand for “financial technology”—a term used to describe technological innovation in the financial world, including the peer -to-peer digital currency bitcoin or even the exchange-trade fund.

Futures
Financial contracts that obligate buyers and sellers to buy or sell an asset—often physical commodities or financial instruments—at a predetermined future date and price. Futures contracts also stipulate the quality and quantity of the underlying asset and are standardized to facilitate trading on a futures exchange. Some futures call for physical delivery; others are settled in cash.

Futures Exchange
A central marketplace where futures contracts, options or other derivatives are traded.

Non-fungible Token (NTF)
A unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided. NFT ownership is recorded in the blockchain and can be transferred by the owner, allowing NFTs to be sold and traded.

Options
Financial derivative contracts sold by one party, called the option writer, to another, referred to as the option holder. Options contracts offer the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (a call) or sell (a put) a security at an agreed -upon price, which is called the strike price.

Footnotes

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Frequent trading of ETFs could significantly increase commissions and other costs such that they may offset any savings from low fees or costs.

Equity securities may fluctuate in value and can decline significantly in response to the activities of individual companies and general market and economic conditions.

Non-diversified funds that focus on a relatively small number of securities tend to be more volatile than diversified funds and the market as a whole.

Concentrated investments in a particular industry tend to be more volatile than the overall market and increases risk that events negatively affecting such industries could reduce returns, potentially causing the value of the Fund’s shares to decrease.

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