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.”

What her children want is not what advisors are selling. In a companion informal poll of individuals aged 18 to 23, almost none would default to an advisor for money advice. They named AI tools and parents first, citing cost, trust and accessibility. Asked what a genuinely good advisor looks like, the recurring answer was collaboration: someone “doing it with me,” not explaining at them.

So how does an advisor earn attention here? The survey answers write the playbook.

• First, competence before conversation. Crypto tax treatment, custody options and estate mechanics for digital assets are table stakes, not differentiators.
• Second, family office style offering. Offer estate planning, tax prep, tax planning and accounting in a cohesive offering. This is especially important for clients who are already comfortable with managing their own portfolio.
• Third, collaboration over lecture, for both the mother managing the household plan and the child who will inherit it. That includes embracing AI as a value-add component of advice and a starting point for research. People still want a human advisor to collaborate with, but the next generation of beneficiaries expects, and is comfortable with, an AI component.

One more signal worth noting: within this same community, several members who have held through multiple market cycles are now building advisory practices aimed at exactly this underserved segment. The market is not waiting.

– Joyce Lai, founder, Real Mamas Community and New Territories LLC

Ask an Expert

Q. Why are more investors seeking professional management for digital assets instead of handling everything themselves?

As digital assets mature, investors are increasingly distinguishing between speculation and wealth building. We’re seeing more products that offer tradable exposure to assets — from bitcoin ETFs to pre-IPO companies — but exposure and ownership are not always the same thing.

Many investors want direct ownership of their assets without the operational risks of self-custody. As portfolios grow, they begin thinking about custody, estate planning, reporting, and long-term financial goals rather than simply making the next trade.

Historically, speculation tends to create more losers than winners. Wealth is more often built through disciplined ownership, proper planning, and a long-term investment approach. That’s why many investors are looking for professional guidance that helps integrate digital assets into a broader financial plan.

Q. What about the negative headlines?

There were negative headlines in March 2020. There were negative headlines during the market capitulation of late 2022. Through both periods, bitcoin experienced significant volatility, but the underlying network continued to operate exactly as designed.

That’s an important distinction for advisors and investors. Headlines often reflect short-term sentiment, while long-term investment outcomes are typically driven by fundamentals.

Bitcoin was not broken then, and it is not broken now. In fact, periods of peak pessimism have historically coincided with some of the most attractive opportunities for long-term investors. While past performance is never a guarantee of future results, investors should recognize that negative news and sharp pullbacks have been recurring features of bitcoin’s market cycle since its inception.

The key is to focus on why you own the asset in the first place. If the investment thesis remains intact, temporary market volatility and negative headlines should be viewed in context rather than in isolation.

Q. What should advisors be telling their clients about crypto now?

Some of the best opportunities in bitcoin have emerged when investor sentiment was at its weakest. Today, several market indicators are approaching levels that have historically coincided with periods of extreme pessimism, including March 2020 and late 2022.

History never repeats perfectly, but it often rhymes. Advisors should help clients distinguish between short-term fear and long-term fundamentals. For investors with a multi-year time horizon, periods of market stress have often rewarded patience and disciplined allocation strategies far more than attempts to trade headlines

– Bryan Courchesne, CEO, DAiM

Keep Reading

The U.S. SEC schedules an August 14 meeting to propose “Regulation Crypto”, a formal rule creating a legal path for crypto firms to raise capital without triggering SEC registration requirements.

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.