Financial Advisors Jump on the Crypto Bandwagon

Cryptocurrencies are becoming a normal part of our financial landscape, and President-elect Donald Trump's support during the 2024 election has given them a huge boost. A recent survey shows that financial advisors are now more eager than ever to invest in crypto. This is a big change from just a few years ago. Bitwise Asset Management and VettaFi, two companies that specialize in crypto investments, did a survey. They found that over half of the financial advisors they talked to plan to invest more in crypto in 2025. Many said the election result was a big reason why. The survey was done right after the U. S. election, between November 14 and December 20, 2024. It shows that advisors are looking at crypto in a new way. This is partly because the SEC approved Bitcoin and Ether ETFs earlier in the year. Matt Hougan, the CIO of Bitwise, said that advisors are now seeing the potential of crypto like never before. They are putting more money into it than ever. In 2024, interest in crypto reached an all-time high. About 96% of financial advisors were asked about it by their clients. The amount of money advisors put into crypto for their clients doubled to 22% in 2024, from 11% in 2023. Among those already invested, nearly all plan to keep or increase their crypto investments in 2025. When choosing Bitcoin ETFs, advisors care most about the expense ratio, which is the cost of owning an ETF. They also care about who issues the ETF and the support the issuer offers. But there are still challenges to getting more people to use crypto. Only 35% of advisors can buy crypto for their clients. Regulatory uncertainty is still the biggest problem, mentioned by 50% of advisors. But this is better than earlier surveys, where it was between 60% and 65%. Hougan said that two-thirds of financial advisors still don't have access to crypto for their clients. But he thinks this could change in 2025 as crypto becomes more mainstream.