It’s “Crypto Week,” and that means clients are probably wondering if they should transfer their retirement savings to meme coins.

Congress is preparing to vote on three landmark bills this week that could transform America into the world capital of crypto. The Genius Act, which allows private companies to launch stable coins, already passed the Senate. But, the other two proposals — the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which sets up a framework for crypto to be regulated as a security or commodity; and the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act that bans the Fed from launching a digital currency — may have a more difficult path to President Trump’s desk. The bills could revolutionize how digital assets are bought, sold and regulated in the US. But with all the attention, what will it take for advisors to finally get on board with an asset class that is quickly becoming impossible to ignore?

“We think about crypto investments often, but before incorporating them, we want to understand what problem it solves,” said Robert Persichitte of Delagify Financial.

Over the Hill

It’s no surprise that the price of Bitcoin topped a record $123,000 high on Monday and that’s been good news for issuers and investors. The world’s biggest Bitcoin ETF reaped the benefits this week with the $80 billion iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) jumping 2.5% as Bitcoin broke pricing records. Other funds also cashed in, including:

• The second-largest bitcoin fund, the $22.7 billion Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC), which jumped about 2.5% Monday, according to ETF.com.
• Both IBIT and FBTC have given back some of those gains as the price of Bitcoin dipped Tuesday.

There may be an even bigger rush to digital assets once more sovereign governments issue debts denominated in cryptocurrency, like El Salvador, Persichitte said. “That’s when it emerges as a unified, globally unified, currency, but it will be difficult to see when that is coming in the future.”

Where’s the Bill? While many clients are already invested in crypto, the “eye-popping” valuation could encourage more client questions about digital assets, said Lawrence K. Pon, a CFP and CPA at Pon & Associates. Besides risk, however, there are other important aspects of crypto that advisors should be aware of, like understanding the tax consequences. Trades will generate capital gains or losses that need to be reported on Form 8949, Pon said. Clients will also need to think about estate planning. “Can their beneficiaries get to the cryptocurrency after they die?” Pon said. “They need to understand all the complications before investing.”

The first half of the year has been all about actives. Now, investors have the numbers to prove it.

Active ETF launches and inflows hit record highs in the first half of the year, according to a recent Morningstar report. Increasingly complex strategies — like derivative income and collateralized loan obligation funds — are becoming more popular amid ongoing market turbulence, and continue to eat away at mutual fund market share. Active fixed-income ETFs were also favored by investors.

“We’ve seen a lot of interest in active bond ETFs, particularly from big managers like Vanguard, [who] make it very clear that they plan to compete actively in the active bond space,” said Aniket Ullal, head of ETF research at CFRA. “So we expect a lot more growth there.”

Taking An Active Role

There have also been 297 active ETF launches so far this year, with firms like Capital Group, JPMorgan, and T. Rowe Price continuing to build out offerings. Active strategies collectively took in $183 billion in assets, per the report, with derivative income, large blend, and ultrashort bond strategies seeing the most inflows. There was also a jump in the number of ETFs with small- and mid-cap holdings, a trend to look out for, said Stephen Welch, research analyst at Morningstar and author of the report. “That’s obviously a place where capacity matters, so it’d be interesting if there’s uptake there, and if firms continue to launch in that area,” he said.

The top-performing funds of H1 2025 in terms of net flows were:

• The JPMorgan Nasdaq Equity Premium Inc ETF (JEPQ), which brought in $7.8 billion in assets and is up 2.45% year-to-date.
• The Janus Henderson AAA CLO ETF (JAAA), which attracted $5.2 billion and is up 2.6% year-to-date.
• The iShares U.S. Thematic Rotation ActiveETF (THRO), which saw $4.5 billion in inflows and is up 6.1% year-to-date.

The large-blend, ultrashort bond, derivative-income, and large-value categories accounted for roughly half of all active ETF flows so far this year. Still, buffer ETFs, a recent addition to the space, accounted for more than 100 active fund launches in the past six months.

Call of Duty. Covered call strategies are another major category to keep an eye on, said Ullal, exemplified by the popularity — especially among older investors nearing retirement — of products like JPMorgan’s JEPQ. “If you look at those strategies, they tend to underperform in a very rapidly rising market, if you’re writing call options on equities,” he said. “But in a market that’s declining or going sideways, it’s an effective strategy to generate income.”

Much of Wall Street is expecting a possible market slowdown in the second half of the year, so it’s a good thing it hit some high notes beforehand.

It’s earnings season, which is often a time to celebrate victories, and BlackRock hit a big one. The New York-based firm reported Tuesday that its assets under management grew to a record $12.5 trillion in the second quarter, up 18% year over year, putting it in a league of its own. Still, shares slid more than 5% on Tuesday, with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink attributing the move to investor concerns over the company’s expenses.

Meanwhile, Boston-based competitor State Street reported $5.1 trillion in AUM as well as $49 trillion in assets under custody, a 17% and 11% increase year over year, respectively. Basically, two of the world’s largest asset managers just got a lot bigger.

BlackRock’s Big Day

The firm’s success in the first half of the year has been driven by high stock prices, massive inflows, and BlackRock’s push into private markets:

• In February, BlackRock completed its purchase of private markets data provider Preqin. BlackRock’s alternatives held roughly $302 billion at the end of the quarter.
• Year-to-date, BlackRock has experienced $152 billion in total net flows, led by a record first half for iShares ETFs.

Also, on the private market front, BlackRock completed its acquisition of private credit firm HPS Investment Partners this month and agreed to acquire ElmTree Funds, a real estate-focused private-equity firm. Starting next year, BlackRock plans to expand access to alternatives by including private assets in target-date retirement funds.

“This is a place that we have particular strength and can add a lot of value, rather than just rote allocations of X percent to public markets and Y percent to private markets,” Martin Small, BlackRock CFO, said on an earnings call Tuesday.

Win Some, Lose Some. State Street’s low-cost offerings were a win this quarter as many investors sought out affordable ETFs over mutual funds. The company generated nearly $3.5 billion in revenue this past quarter, bolstered by an 11% jump in fees year over year.

However, despite higher revenue, profits fell as total expenses reached $2.5 billion in the second quarter, also up 11% compared with this time last year. State Street’s expenses went toward workforce reorganization, technology upgrades and higher performance-based incentives. Like they say, you gotta spend money to make money.