According to @EricBalchunas, there are about 19,000 private equity funds globally, which he notes is more than the number of McDonalds restaurants worldwide and roughly double the total of ETFs and mutual funds combined (source: @EricBalchunas, X, Oct 1, 2025). He adds that this scale helps explain why private equity managers are eager to democratize their holdings, as paper gains alone are insufficient without broader distribution or liquidity (source: @EricBalchunas, X, Oct 1, 2025). For traders, the source flags a structural push toward wider retail access to private-market exposures, a backdrop to monitor for product supply and investor access trends; no direct crypto-market linkage was provided by the source (source: @EricBalchunas, X, Oct 1, 2025).