Registered investment advisers (RIAs) — the personalized financial planners that manage everyday investors’ portfolios — are now gatekeeping the next phase of crypto’s adoption.
Despite soaring valuations, crypto has struggled to reach beyond its core investor base. Even spot Bitcoin and Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — which finally launched in the United States in 2024 after years of anticipation — have yet to break the mold. The approximately $60 billion poured into the funds this year has largely come from crypto-native retail investors and hedge funds, several analysts told Cointelegraph.
To reach everyday investors — and vastly enlarge its market — crypto must win over RIAs.
“I’d suggest thinking of crypto investments as extra money you can afford to risk. Its value can go up or down by 90% very quickly,” Will McGough, director of investments at Prime Capital Financial, a $24 billion RIA based in Overland Park, Kansas, told Cointelegraph.
“We have not begun allocating to crypto ETFs in our portfolios,” McGough said. He added that his firm has “definitely seen an uptick in questions about them since spot Bitcoin ETFs and, most recently, Ether ETFs launched.”
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