Hargreaves Lansdown, the Bristol-based investment firm managing nearly £173 billion in assets, is now offering bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) to its 2 million retail clients. The move marks a sharp reversal from the firm’s position last year, when it stated bitcoin was “not an asset class” and should not be included in client portfolios.
ETNs are investment funds that trade on stock exchanges and track prices of digital assets. Hargreaves Lansdown’s current offering includes a warning that “crypto ETNs are considered high-risk and may be volatile,” consistent with its prior messaging about bitcoin’s extreme price swings.
Prior Stance on Bitcoin
In 2025, Hargreaves Lansdown cautioned customers about bitcoin volatility. “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 firm stated at the time.
The firm went further, declaring: “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.”
Institutional Adoption and Regulatory Approval
The SEC approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds in 2024 after a decade of rejections. Bitcoin ETFs achieved the most successful debut in ETF history, Major asset managers including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Morgan Stanley now operate bitcoin ETFs, collectively managing $100 billion in assets through these products.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s decision to offer crypto ETNs places the firm alongside established institutional players who have embraced bitcoin trading products. The availability of these products to the firm’s 2 million clients signals a shift in how mainstream UK investment platforms are treating cryptocurrency access for retail investors.
