Five things we learned about crypto from Purpose Investment’s chief innovation officer

While the price of Bitcoin has fluctuated between about US$60,000 and US$125,000 over the past year (and US$84,000 or so as of press time), historically, that volatility is not huge. Cryptocurrency is maturing as an asset class. But do individual investors have the right allocations for their portfolios? We asked Vlad Tasevski, chief innovation officer at Toronto’s Purpose Investments.

1. Purpose introduced the world’s first spot Bitcoin ETF in February 2021. The firm now has eight crypto ETFs, including ones devoted to Ethereum, Solana and XRP. The original Bitcoin ETF is the biggest, with $2.2 billion in assets as of September. Bitcoin itself has traded since early 2009. “It’s sort of early days,” says Tasevski, but the sector is “here to stay.”

2. As with gold and other precious metals, investing in Bitcoin is a matter of belief for some investors. “Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of all time, doesn’t believe in gold,” says Tasevski. In the case of crypto, Tasevski acknowledges that some individuals shun it, while others are all in—with relatively few in between.

3. Major police forces allege that crypto finances illegal activity, but investment regulators are getting a handle on it. U.S. President Donald Trump signed the so-called GENIUS Act into law in January 2025. It provides a regulatory framework for stablecoins—which are backed by fiat money, such as U.S. dollars and Treasury bills. Trump reported US$1.4 billion in crypto-related income in 2025.

4. More recently, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, backed by Trump, won just 50 votes in the U.S. Senate in September, not the 60 needed to advance. Crypto prices dropped initially, but Tasevski said Purpose is “still kind of positive that it’s going to pass eventually.” Still, after Canada led the world in 2021, “it feels like we have fallen behind the U.S.”

5. Regardless of the outcome of specific legislation, Tasevski and other crytpo market participants are excited by the prospects for tokenization. Currently, stablecoins do not pay yield. But the Clarity Act would eventually allow tokenized versions of stocks, ETFs and other financial assets to trade on blockchains. It’s “very powerful technology,” he says.