British financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown is now letting retail investors buy bitcoin — a striking turnaround coming nearly one year after the firm declared the cryptocurrency was "not an asset class."

The Bristol, UK-based investment firm, which serves roughly 2 million clients, has begun offering bitcoin and other cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes (ETNs) through its website. ETNs are investment funds that trade on stock exchanges and track the prices of digital assets. Unlike ETFs, ETNs are debt instruments whose value depends on the issuer's creditworthiness as well as the underlying asset's performance.

The move follows a period in which the firm — which manages nearly £173 billion (over $233 billion) in assets — actively warned customers against buying bitcoin.

https://x.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/2095952167139991916?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"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 said at the time.

"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," it added.

Now, a range of ETNs tracking the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are available to the firm's clients. Hargreaves Lansdown continues to caution users, stating that "crypto ETNs are considered high-risk and may be volatile."

The policy reversal also comes against a shifting UK regulatory backdrop. In late 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority said it would allow recognized investment exchanges to list crypto-backed ETNs that are accessible to retail investors, provided exchanges ensure adequate consumer protections — a notable change from the FCA's earlier position of restricting such products to professional investors.

The shift mirrors a broader trend in mainstream finance. In 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved bitcoin exchange-traded funds for investors, after a decade of rejecting such products. The funds recorded the most successful debut in the history of ETFs, as investors who had previously been unable to gain exposure to the asset class rushed to buy the products.

Run by major asset managers and banks including BlackRock, Fidelity, and Morgan Stanley, these investment vehicles now collectively manage over $100 billion in assets. As one of the UK's largest retail investment platforms, Hargreaves Lansdown's decision gives a significant portion of British retail investors a direct route to crypto exposure through a regulated brokerage — a sign of how traditional financial institutions are gradually integrating digital assets into standard product lineups, even while retaining risk warnings for customers.

This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.