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← The Wall Street deskWhen Wall Street Let You In

The People's Ledger

Don't trust, verify.Education, not financial advice.
The Wall Street desk · timeline

When Wall Street Let You In

First they called it a fraud. Then they let in the institutions, then the wealthy, then their own clients, and finally anyone with a brokerage account. Here’s who got through the door, and when.

Bitcoin never had a velvet rope. Since 2009, anyone with an internet connection could own it, no minimum, no advisor. What you see here is when Wall Street decided to let its customers in, and which ones went first.

Read the fine print: not every door is the same door

Takes orders if you askYou can buy it, but your advisor can’t suggest it. JPMorgan 2021, Merrill 2024

Advisors may recommendYour advisor can bring it up, often only for some clients. Morgan Stanley 2024, Bank of America 2026

CustodyThe bank holds bitcoin for big clients. That doesn’t mean you can buy it there. BNY Mellon, U.S. Bank

Direct coin tradingYou buy actual bitcoin in an account. Sending it to your own wallet is a separate question. Fidelity Crypto, Schwab Crypto

Issues its own fundThe firm makes the product and collects the fee. You own fund shares, not coins. BlackRock, Fidelity, Morgan Stanley

Price bets (futures)A contract on the price, settled in dollars. No bitcoin changes hands. CME, ProShares, Goldman Sachs

Outside the U.S.? Banks, exchanges and regulators in other countries have their own section: Around the world ↓

These doors run side by side, not up one ladder. On the chart, a firm’s line drops a band when more of its customers could get in. An access date isn’t a purchase date or a return.

The velvet rope, firm by firm

Check this out on a computer for a better way to see it!

← Swipe for earlier yearsTap a diamond for the detailsSaid no, then openedWashington: tap for the detailsHollow diamond = reported, not confirmed by the firm

Year by year: who got through which door

Check this out on a computer for a better way to see it!

Eligible brokerage clientsTheir clientsWealthy clientsInstitutions onlyOutside or said no
Still outside
Said no
Institutions only
Wealthy clients
Their clients
Eligible brokerage clients

    Wall Street / Government Corrections

    Said → sold, in months

    What a leader said and what the firm sold are two different things. A new product shows a business decision, not necessarily a change of heart.

    Correction · BlackRock

    SaidOn Oct. 13, 2017, Larry Fink called bitcoin “an index of money laundering.”

    SoldOn Jan. 11, 2024, BlackRock’s own bitcoin ETF, IBIT, started trading. By June 2025 it held about $70 billion.

    74months
    later    Sources: DL News · BlackRock · Fortune
    Correction · JPMorgan

    SaidOn Sept. 12, 2017, Jamie Dimon said bitcoin “is a fraud.”

    Took ordersFrom July 19, 2021, its wealth clients could buy crypto funds, but only if they asked; advisors couldn't recommend them. May 2025: “We are going to allow you to buy it.”

    46months
    later    Sources: CNBC · The Block
    Correction · Vanguard

    SaidOn Jan. 11, 2024, Vanguard said spot bitcoin ETFs “will not be available for purchase on the Vanguard platform.”

    OpenedOn Dec. 2, 2025, it let its 50 million+ brokerage clients trade bitcoin ETFs.

    22months
    later    Sources: ThinkAdvisor · Bloomberg Law
    Correction · Labor Dept.

    SaidIn April 2022, about Fidelity’s bitcoin 401(k), the Labor Department said “We have grave concerns.”

    Dropped itOn May 28, 2025, it withdrew that warning: a step back, not an endorsement.

    37months
    later    Sources: The Block · U.S. Dept. of Labor (2022) · U.S. Dept. of Labor (2025)
    Ask yourself

    When the door finally opened to everyone, who was already inside?

    Every event links to its source (tap it). When a report came out after a change took effect, or the first day isn’t known, the card says so; a month or year with no day means the day isn’t known. Months are full months from the first date to the second. A change in what a firm sells isn’t always a change in what its leaders believe: Dimon still calls himself a skeptic. Checked 2026-10-24.

    Follow the moneySaid by: what they saidReserve WatchETF60/40, or something else?What is Bitcoin? (the full path)

    The Wall Street desk · around the world

    Around the World: Who Opened the Door?

    Wall Street wasn’t the only door. Here’s when banks, stock exchanges and regulators in 13 other places let people in, and who got in first.

    JPJapanCACanadaSGSingaporeBRBrazilARArgentinaAUAustraliaHKHong KongAEUAEEurope ↘USthe velvet rope ↑
    EuropeSECHDEESUK
    Open to anyoneOnly some peopleClosed or exchanges only

    Each square is a place; its fill is the widest door so far. Tap one for its doors.

    Every door has its source in its pop-up. “Reported” means news reports, not the firm itself. A firm calling itself “the first” is its own claim. Checked 2026-10-25.

    Follow the moneyWhen Wall Street let you inWhat the news saidReserve WatchETF

    The Wall Street desk · clippings

    What the News Said

    The headlines, in the outlet’s own words, oldest first. Click one to read the original.

    Headlines are quoted exactly as published; translations of non-English headlines are ours. “Press release” means the firm or exchange wrote it. Checked 2026-10-25.