Are advisors having a change of heart on crypto?

A survey jointly conducted by the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and Franklin Templeton Digital Assets shows a significant shift in financial advisors' approach to cryptocurrency, with three-fifths actively suggesting it to their clients.

The poll included financial advisors from a diverse range of settings, including independent RIAs – who make up seven-tenths (71 percent) of the respondents – regional and independent broker-dealers (17 percent), and major wirehouses (3 percent), with a client base primarily composed of high-net-worth individuals.

DACFP and Franklin Templeton’s survey – carried out in December, prior to the SEC’s historic approval of spot bitcoin ETFs – indicated that 59 percent of financial advisors recommend that their clients allocate assets to cryptocurrencies.

"For more than a decade, financial advisors have largely been omitting bitcoin and other digital assets from their portfolio recommendations. That has now changed," said financial planning pioneer Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman and the DACFP, and author of The Truth About Crypto.

According to Edelman, DACFP’s research suggests independent RIAs will move $150 billion in client assets into spot bitcoin ETFs within the next two years. In light of that, he says advisors must become more knowledgeable about the new asset class.

Among advisors in the survey who suggest crypto allocations, 7 percent suggest it to all their clients, while another 29 percent have advised more than half of their clientele accordingly. Notably, two-thirds of these proponents recommend a modest allocation, suggesting 1 percent to 3 percent of total assets be invested in digital currencies.

"Driving awareness and education around this asset class is critical for advisors and investors, and we're very pleased to have worked alongside DACFP in furnishing this survey," said Sandy Kaul, head of digital asset and industry advisory services at Franklin Templeton. "We remain in the early stages of adoption, and it's encouraging to see the robust interest from advisors seeking to allocate to digital assets."

The findings also suggest a growing interest among advisors who have yet to recommend cryptocurrencies, with 41 percent saying they intend to consider digital asset allocations in the future. Among those, 57 percent said they plan to actively recommend crypto to their clients this year.