How wary are financial advisors about the fledgling cryptocurrency investment sector? So much so that some of them won't even talk about the topic.
There's so much uncertainty surrounding the investments that some firms have muzzled their advisors on the subject, according to advisors who were willing to offer an opinion.
However, the SEC’s approval of cryptocurrency ETFs by major financial houses in January should make advisors and their firms willing to speak about crypto investing shortly, advisors say.
“I give credit to Summit Wealth Advisors for allowing me to delve into cryptocurrency investments,” Jeffery Janson, senior wealth advisor at Summit Wealth Partners, which has offices in Florida and Michigan, said in an interview.
“At this point, I would encourage advisors to get educated because investing in digital assets is not going away, and we owe it to our clients to be able to present the facts about this asset class. I think we should be actively telling clients about crypto investing but we should not push it,” Jansen said.
Janson has earned the designation "certified in blockchain and digital assets," which is offered through the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals, an organization formed by Ric Edelman, a leading proponent of crypto investing and founder of Edelman Financial Engines, the nation’s largest independent RIA.
Digital assets investing is not going away, Janson said. “You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube. Younger people are the ones who are most curious about this asset class,” he said.
Interested investors should consider devoting 1% to 3% of their portfolios to cryptocurrency investments, he said, “but they should not do 3% all at once. Clients have to walk before they run and they need to be prepared mentally. We are in a unique period right now as far as investing” in this expanding asset class is concerned."
Edelman said in an interview that he was not surprised many advisors are reluctant to discuss digital assets investing, but added that “six months from now it will be a different story,” as the financial world gets accustomed to having the spot ETFs available from major financial houses.
Independent financial advisors will invest $150 billion in spot bitcoin ETFs over the next two to three years on the heels of the SEC approval, Edelman said.
He also said he believes the bitcoin ETF price will reach $150,000 within two to three years, about three times its current value, which would make it the most successful ETF launch in history.
“It’s going to take time for asset flows to occur,” Edelman said. “Firms need time to put these new ETFs onto their platform, and compliance departments need time to establish policies governing their use. Advisors all need training, because most are unfamiliar with blockchain technology, and they don’t know how to explain bitcoin to clients.”
The deVere Group agreed that the potential for an increase in cryptocurrencies is big.
“Bitcoin could hit a new all-time high within weeks,” Nigel Green, CEO and founder of the deVere Group, said in a statement. “A key driver behind bitcoin’s recent surge is the growing interest and involvement of institutional investors, notably through the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs. The approval and launch of spot bitcoin ETFs, which track the price of the cryptocurrency directly rather than through futures contracts, have provided institutional investors with a more accessible and regulated means of entering the crypto market, accelerating institutional adoption, and bringing more liquidity and stability to the market.”
In the meantime, in addition to the certification program founded by Edelman, other organizations are creating educational tools and support services for advisors.
The launch of the multinational Digital Assets Association was announced in February. The association is designed to create a collaborative organization to enhance digital asset investing, Henry Zhang, founder and CEO of DigiFT, said in an interview. DigiFT is a regulated exchange for digital assets, or what it calls “on-chain real-world assets.” DigiFT, which is based in Singapore, is one of the founders of the Digital Assets Association.
“We are only in the early stage of developing digital assets, and this is going to be huge,” Zhang said.
“But the industry is going to move slowly as the public becomes aware of the possibilities, just as the adoption of anything new takes time,” he said. “At first people do not see the need for something new, until, suddenly, they do not see how they lived without it.”
RMR Wealth Builders, a financial firm with more than $1.6 billion in client assets based in Montclair, N.J., is one of the firms that moved early into the space.
“When crypto investing became a topic of everyday conversation, RMR was actively seeking a solution that would offer clients who inquire a platform where we could advise them on this asset class,” Tyler Whitehouse, managing director of personal wealth at RMR Wealth Builders, said in an interview.
“We advise on crypto like we do with any alternative asset. We recommend a diversified allocation to crypto as part of a diversified portfolio of other asset classes,” Whitehouse said. “When providing advice, we have to be mindful of risk tolerance, time horizon and concentration risk. If the client wants exposure to digital assets they need to understand the risk involved, which we believe is purely speculation right now. Younger investors are the ones most interested so far. We want to be sure the risk is clear to the client, but it is a good opportunity to get exposure to a diversifier.”
The advisors at RMR Wealth Builders have taken steps to educate themselves about the asset class so they can advise clients, he said. A $3 million household might have 10% of their portfolio designated to alternatives and within that 1% to 2% might be held in digital assets.
“There is still a lot of murkiness about how regulators will handle digital assets” Todd Mercer, a partner at Mercer Wealth Management in Louisville, Ky., said in an interview. “Technology advances faster than the regulators can move and we do not know when this will be resolved.”
Mercer called digital asset investing as a “huge change” for the industry. “We have several clients who are interested, but they are worried about security. We’re excited about being able to help them.”
Emmett Cosgrove, vice president and partner at Mercer, said in an interview, that the firm is using this time as an opportunity to start small with some clients.
Vijay Marolia, head of Regal Point Capital in Orlando, Fla., said in an interview a lack of knowledge holds many advisors back from talking about crypto investments.
“Many advisors do not understand blockchain technology and that makes them afraid they will pick the wrong investment for their clients,” he said. “But advisors should not pigeonhole clients when it comes to deciding who might be interested in the asset class.”
“Blockchain is a game changer that is not going away. Ignoring it is the biggest way to shortchange your clients,” Marolia said. “Advisors should educate themselves so they can guide their clients who bring it up through the pros and cons of the asset.
“Cryptocurrencies are going to be volatile for quite some time, so advisors need to make sure their clients have a long-term horizon of at least three years,” he added.
The nature of blockchain is one of its safeguards, he said. “Blockchain, the underlying technology behind bitcoin, cannot be easily destroyed due to its decentralized nature. It ensures that data is stored across a network of computers, making it resistant to tampering or hacking. This decentralization enhances security and resilience.”
“The decentralized structure also makes it resistant to censorship and control by a single entity. This quality contributes to the long-term sustainability and robustness of blockchain technology, all of which requires advisors to educate themselves” so they can help clients, Marolia said.
Edelman said advisors need to have a measured approach to cryptocurrencies.
“Advisors are going to need time to tackle the big tactical questions,” Edelman said. “Advisors have to determine which of their clients should invest in these ETFs, and determine the best allocation for them. Advisors also need to decide how they’ll communicate their recommendation to clients,” Edelman said. That’s why Edelman said he is encouraging advisors to have realistic expectations about the new spot bitcoin ETFs.
Bitcoin is “an outstanding addition to a long-term diversified portfolio, using all the traditional investment strategies such as rebalancing, dollar cost averaging and tax-loss harvesting,” Edelman said. The Digital Assets Council for Financial Professionals has created a spot bitcoin ETF tool kit so that advisors can easily decide which ones they want to add to their client portfolios. It’s available free at dacfp.com/toolkit.
As people are wading through the information about cryptocurrencies, many are using TikTok as a resource, according to CoinLedger, a research organization and crypto investment platform. According to a recent study by CoinLedger, XPR Network is the most popular cryptocurrency, followed by Polygon and Bitcoin.
Other organizations are measuring the cryptocurrency surge and coming up with similar results. In a study of Google searches, Bombastic.com, a research organization, bitcoin was the most commonly searched cryptocurrency, followed by Shiba Inu and XPR.