Crypto for Advisors: The crypto advice gap

Happy Thursday, advisors!

In today’s newsletter, Joyce Lai explores why, with more clients integrating crypto into their estate plans, traditional advisors risk losing relevance by ignoring this growing, long-term asset class.

Then, in “Ask an Expert,” Bryan Courchesne, CEO of DAiM, answers questions about market sentiment and investment trends.

Happy reading.

Crypto is already in your clients’ estate plans. Are you managing it?

As digital assets and blockchain technology become part of the backbone of traditional finance, more individuals view crypto as something to hold for the long term, long enough to pass to their children as part of an estate plan. Despite that, a gap remains between what clients already own and what traditional advisors will touch. And in a world where an advisor’s value is not only investment advice but the ability to make clients’ lives easier — whether by reducing the number of accounts, amount of paperwork, or number of people to call to get things done — that gap is a touch point where advisory relationships will be won or lost.

I recently ran an informal survey of crypto-holding individuals in the Real Mamas of Crypto community, a global network of more than 220 senior professionals in tech who are also mothers. Every member is crypto-native and a decision maker in her household finances. She also has a front-row seat to what her children want next. The pattern in the responses is unambiguous, and traditional wealth advisors should take note.

Chart: Does your current financial advisor know about or manage your crypto holdings?

Results from an informal survey by the Real Mamas community.

These are long-term allocators. Nearly every respondent described bitcoin, ether or solana as a core long-term position. Asked what they do when capital rotates into AI stocks or IPOs, the dominant answer was, “I notice but hold.” This is not the crypto-bro day trading portrayed in mainstream media. It is buy-and-hold behavior applied to a new asset class.

The crypto is already in the plan. Roughly half of respondents said crypto is part of their estate or inheritance planning, and many have considered gifting it to their children. The asset has entered the family balance sheet whether or not an advisor participates.

Nearly no one is using their wealth advisor to manage their crypto. Exactly one respondent said an advisor manages their crypto. The rest split between “they know but won’t touch it,” “they don’t know,” and no advisor at all. When asked what it would take to trust an advisor with these assets, respondents were specific: demonstrated industry expertise, understanding of privacy concerns, demonstrated tax and custody competence, security and credibility. One wrote that an advisor would need to be “crypto native, not a Trad-Fi advisor who read a whitepaper.”

The Bank of England moves its Digital Pound Lab testing forward to Phase 2; stablecoin and CBDC interoperability in trade finance with Polygon providing settlement infrastructure.

The U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency says crypto companies should be able to apply for U.S. bank charters, opening a potential path for digital asset firms to access the national banking system.

Looking for more? Receive the latest crypto news from coindesk.com and market updates from coindesk.com/institutions.