Wall Street advisor Ric Edelman has invested in Bitwise Asset Management, creator of the world’s first cryptocurrency index fund.
Edelman, who is a best-selling author, is also serving as an advisor to the company. His entrance markets another milestone among prominent veteran bankers and financial advisors who are moving into the crypto space and giving it the kind of legitimacy it will need to attract millions of mainstream investors and adopters.
Appearing on CNBC’s Fast Money, Edelman said,
“I’m bullish on it because Bitcoin is now ten years old. It’s a $200 billion market in crypto total, Bitcoin is about 40% of that. Clearly, it’s here to stay. There’s massive amount of investments going into the blockchain and crypto assets specifically. And financial advisors, I’m discovering, really don’t know much about it. No more than their clients do. Which means advisors can’t effectively give advice to their clients that the clients need. Should I buy Bitcoin or other crypto assets, and if so how much? How do I do it? So my goal is to help raise the bar, awareness, education, understanding, and knowledge so that advisors can be of greater help to their clients.
I do believe that crypto assets are an asset class. They are a store of value. Just like gold and precious metals. Just like oil and gas. Just like natural resources and energy. Yes, it is an asset class. It is here to stay. But most people today don’t understand the blockchain. They don’t understand crypto assets. They’re still calling them cryptocurrencies, for example. And so we need to get people to be much more aware of this…
The day will come, I’m convinced, when the SEC creates, or allows, a Bitcoin ETF. And that will change everything.”
With $22 billion in assets under management, Edelman Financial Services was recently named the number one registered investment advisor (RIA) firm in the country for 2018 by Barron’s. He’ll work with Bitwise to support financial advisors in their understanding of blockchain, Bitcoin and the myriad of altcoins in the cryptocurrency market so they can effectively introduce crypto assets to their clients.
Edelman says, “There is a technological and financial revolution taking place right now with cryptocurrency that has far-reaching implications. Every financial advisor needs to educate themselves about this space, and most should be considering an allocation for clients.”
Contrary to Larry Fink, the chief executive officer of BlackRock who said in a July interview with Bloomberg, “I don’t believe any client has sought out crypto exposure. I’ve not heard from one client who says, ‘I need to be in this,’” a recent Bitwise survey of more than 450 financial advisors found that 83% had clients who were asking about crypto.
Edelman says that we’re on a path to a cashless future and that the crypto market has gotten too big to ignore, with revolutionary technology such as Ethereum and smart contracts on the precipice of reconfiguring huge portions of the financial industry.