Why Financial Advisors Are So Excited About a Spot Bitcoin ETF - Ep. 572

Nov 21, 2023

Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and author of 'The Truth About Crypto,' dives into the evolving landscape of Bitcoin ETFs. He highlights that while only 12% of advisors currently recommend Bitcoin, a staggering 77% are waiting for a spot Bitcoin ETF to emerge. Edelman discusses how FTX's collapse has shifted perceptions and the low knowledge among advisors regarding crypto. He also explains why interest in futures ETFs has been lukewarm compared to the anticipated enthusiasm for spot ETFs.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

SBF's Impact on Crypto Perception

Sam Bankman-Fried's actions significantly harmed the crypto industry's reputation.
Many outside the crypto community still see him as the face of crypto, despite his rejection by many within the community before FTX's collapse.

INSIGHT

Advisor Knowledge of Bitcoin

Financial advisors generally have a low level of knowledge about Bitcoin.
Even those who own Bitcoin struggle to explain it to clients.

INSIGHT

Drivers of Advisor Interest

Client demand and the desire to retain clients are driving advisor interest in Bitcoin.
Many clients already own crypto without their advisor's knowledge, prompting advisors to offer crypto services.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

According to surveys of financial advisors, only 12% are currently recommending that clients invest in Bitcoin, while 47% of advisors personally own Bitcoin and a whopping 77% say they are waiting for a spot Bitcoin ETF to become available so they can offer it to their clients.

On this episode of Unchained, Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and author of “The Truth About Crypto,” explains how this should all lead to high demand once the first spot Bitcoin ETFs become available, although it will take some time for them to allocate. Edelman also discusses how FTX’s implosion impacted advisor perceptions of crypto, why investors have not been that excited by crypto futures ETFs, and which Bitcoin ETF issuers he believes are likely to be the big winners.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights:

how regulatory confusion keeps financial advisors away from recommending Bitcoin to their clients
how the collapse of FTX affected financial advisors’ interest in crypto, according to Ric
how the knowledge level of financial advisors about Bitcoin is "extraordinarily low"
why 77% of investment advisors are willing to buy a spot Bitcoin ETF
why there wasn't a huge interest from advisors after the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs
the percentage of client portfolios that he expects they will allocate to BTC
why Ric thinks there won't be huge inflows immediately after the approval of spot BTC ETFs
how financial advisors will decide whose ETF to buy, among the 12 potential issuers
why he believes spot Ethereum ETFs have great growth potential
why he thinks tokenization might be the "next big thing" that will increase institutional activity

Take the Unchained 2023 survey!

Unchained is doing its annual survey. Let us know what we’re doing well, how we can improve, what you’d like to see more of, and generally, how we can serve you better. The survey also helps us find sponsors whose products and services would appeal to you. Plus, participating gives you an opportunity to win Unchained merch! Five randomly selected respondents will receive one free Unchained t-shirt or mug — your choice. Click here to participate. Thanks so much!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2023

Thank you to our sponsors!

Guest:

Ric Edelman, Founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals
Previous appearance on Unchained: Financial Advisors Control $5 Trillion in Investor Wealth. Are They Buying Bitcoin?

Links

Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices