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Spot Bitcoin ETFs hit the market in January 2024. Within months, Hightower Advisors, then the country’s second-largest RIA, disclosed a $68 million position across GBTC, FBTC, IBIT, and ARKB in its very first 13F filing after approval, one of the earliest signals flagged in the crypto industry report behind this series.
That wasn’t a fluke. Before spot ETFs existed, every RIA looking at Bitcoin had to clear a custody decision, an operational decision, and a governance decision before it ever got to the investment decision. After approval, all of that collapsed into one step: buy shares of a listed ETF through the same brokerage rails already used for every other position in the account. That single change is what pulled thousands of RIA firms into the asset class within 24 months, and it’s repeated every quarter since:
- No more custody problem. ETFs trade through the same brokerage rails as every other holding.
- No more governance problem. One investment committee decision instead of three separate ones.
- No more one-off allocations. Firms start small, then scale up across the whole client book, typically landing at 1-5% of portfolio value once due diligence clears.
Two years in, that pattern is now thousands of RIAs deep. Dakota Marketplace tracks thousands ofRIA firmswith confirmed Bitcoin ETF positions, and new 13F filers keep showing up every reporting cycle. For fund managers running a digital asset strategy, the RIA channel isn’t a future opportunity. It’s active, disclosed, and growing.
In this article, we’ll walk through the 10 RIAs leading that adoption curve, what’s publicly disclosed about their Bitcoin ETF holdings, and where each one sits on the path from first allocation to platform-wide rollout. By the end, you’ll have a clear read on which firms are furthest along, which ones are still early, and where to start if you’re building a target list for a digital asset raise.
Why January 2024 Changed The Math For RIAs
Before spot ETFs existed, every RIA looking at Bitcoin had to clear a custody decision, an operational decision, and a governance decision before it ever got to the investment decision. Direct holding meant sourcing a qualified custodian, writing new compliance procedures, and amending client agreements. After approval, all of that collapsed into one step: buy shares of a listed ETF through the same brokerage rails already used for every other position in the account.
That’s the friction removal that pulled thousands of RIA firms into the asset class within 24 months. Hougan described the early 13F disclosures as “just a down payment,” pointing to a pattern he’s watched play out across the industry: six to twelve months of due diligence, a small initial allocation, then a platform-wide rollout across the client book once the firm clears its internal review, typically landing at 1-5% of portfolio value. The ten RIAs below sit at different points on that curve, but all of them have disclosed positions on record.
The 10 RIAs To Know
1. CAPTRUST Advisors
$1.08 trillion AUM | Raleigh, NC
CAPTRUST is the largest firm on this list by a wide margin, managing $1.08 trillion in combined assets under management and advisement, including $630 billion under advisement and $98 billion under direct management across its institutional and high-net-worth businesses. Its home office research team curates approved lists and model portfolios for a national advisor network, with alternatives, including digital assets, running through that centralized process rather than left to individual discretion.
2. LPL Financial
$377 billion AUM | San Diego, CA / Charlotte, NC
LPL is technically a broker-dealer rather than a pure RIA, but its scale and its direct ownership stakes in RIA aggregators built on its platform, including Private Advisor Group further down this list, make it impossible to skip. LPL reported $377 billion in 13F assets in its Q1 2026 filing, and it just raised its stake in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT) by 20.2% in its most recent quarterly disclosure. Worth watching as a bellwether for how digital asset access flows down to the independent and hybrid advisors sitting on LPL’s platform.
3. Hightower Advisors
$353.7 billion AUM | Chicago, IL
Hightower manages roughly $353.7 billion as of December 31, 2025, after a run of acquisitions into its Signature Wealth division that added more than $35 billion in AUM this year alone. It’s also the firm that put RIA Bitcoin adoption on the map: Hightower was among the first major RIAs to show up in Bitcoin ETF 13F data, disclosing $68 million in spot ETF holdings across GBTC, FBTC, IBIT, and ARKB back in Q1 2024. At the time, that position represented just 0.05% of firm assets, which is exactly the kind of toe-in-the-water entry Hougan’s “down payment” framework predicts.
4. Corient Private Wealth
$165.25 billion AUM | Miami, FL
Corient serves high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients on a fee-only, fiduciary basis, managing about $165.25 billion with a family office model that blends traditional and alternative investments. The firm has been steadily building its Bitcoin ETF exposure, growing its IBIT stake to 319,276 shares worth roughly $19.5 million as of a Form 13F filing reported in late 2025. Alternatives at Corient run through a centralized team that coordinates with tax and estate planning, so a digital asset allocation here isn’t a one-off decision made by a single advisor.
5. Cerity Partners
$122.85 billion AUM | New York, NY
Cerity is one of the largest independent multi-family office RIAs in the country, serving high-net-worth families, corporations, and nonprofits out of 59 offices across 19 states. It’s also built one of the more visible Bitcoin ETF positions on this list: a $102.15 million stake in IBIT as of its Q3 2025 filing, after boosting the position 51.4% during the quarter. That’s not a toe in the water anymore, that’s a firm treating Bitcoin ETF exposure as a real allocation.
Dakota Marketplace tracks thousands of RIA firms with confirmed digital asset exposure, filterable by AUM, geography, and ETF holdings. If you’re building a target list for a digital asset raise, this is where to start.Book a demoto see the full RIA coverage.
6. Wealth Enhancement Group
$94.63 billion AUM | Minneapolis, MN
Wealth Enhancement Group manages $94.63 billion across more than 115 offices and roughly 45,500 households, having grown substantially through acquisitions like Equius Partners and Infinity Wealth Alliance. Worth flagging: this firm has taken a more conservative posture toward private and illiquid alternatives generally, favoring liquid alternatives and interval funds instead, so managers approaching this platform should expect a higher bar than at some of the firms above.
7. Private Advisor Group
$41.3 billion AUM | Morristown, NJ
Private Advisor Group reported $41.3 billion in AUM as of June 30, 2025, and picked up a minority investment from LPL Financial in November 2025, with roughly 90% of its advisor assets already custodied on LPL’s platform. That relationship makes it a useful bellwether for how digital asset access filters down from the broker-dealer level to independent advisor teams underneath it.
8. New Edge Wealth
$19.9 billion AUM | Stamford, CT
New Edge Wealth serves ultra-high-net-worth families, family offices, and institutional clients through a boutique model under NewEdge Capital Group, managing roughly $19.9 billion. The firm has been adding wealth advisors at a fast clip over the past year and pushing into new metro markets, a sign it’s still in build-out mode for complex, high-net-worth relationships, digital asset strategies included.
9. Pine Ridge Advisers
$14.4 billion AUM | New York, NY
Pine Ridge is a founder-led RIA managing $14.4 billion, serving both high-net-worth individuals and institutional clients. It also acts as sponsor and general partner on certain pooled vehicles, which gives it a governance role beyond typical advisory work when it stands up its own investment structures, worth knowing if you’re pitching a fund rather than a separately managed account.
10. TRUE by Cresset
$1.7 billion AUM (pre-merger) | Chicago, IL
TRUE Capital Management built its name as a multi-family office for professional athletes and entertainers before merging into Cresset in 2023, folding its roughly $1.7 billion in assets into what’s now a $250 billion-plus multi-family office platform under the Cresset brand. The combination gives TRUE’s sports and entertainment client base access to Cresset’s broader private investment sourcing, including whatever digital asset access Cresset builds out platform-wide.
Start Building Your RIA Target List
What started with a handful of early movers is now thousands of firms across every AUM tier and geography adding Bitcoin ETF exposure to client portfolios. The 13F cycle keeps surfacing new names each quarter, and the expectation among high-net-worth clients for digital asset access has shifted the conversation from whether to how much. For fund managers with a digital asset strategy, this is one of the most active, most disclosed, and most accessible allocator segments in the market today.
Dakota Marketplace tracks thousands of RIA firms with confirmed digital asset exposure across every AUM tier and geography. Filter by ETF holdings, investment team contacts, and current allocation activity to build your target list.Book a demoto see the full RIA coverage.
Written By: Cate Costin, Marketing Associate
