Edelman Financial Services founder Ric Edelman has explained that financial advisors are waiting for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) so that they can offer these investment products to their clients. “Every compliance department will say okay to that product because it’s just an ETF like other thematic ETFs,” he emphasized.
Financial Advisors Await Spot Bitcoin ETFs
Ric Edelman, founder of Edelman Financial Services and author of several personal finance books, shared his perspective on spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during Coindesk’s Unchained podcast this week. He detailed:
77% of advisors in the last survey we’ve done on this … show that they are waiting for the spot bitcoin ETF to become available so that they can provide this to their clients because every compliance department will say okay to that product because it’s just an ETF like other thematic ETFs.
“We use ETFs for investing in computer technology, oil and gas, gold and precious metals, [and] emerging markets. This will simply be blockchain and digital assets,” he clarified.
Edelman added: “47% of advisors personally own bitcoin which means they get it. They understand that this is an innovative technology, that it has the potential for delivering outsized investment returns and they’re personally investing.”
The founder of Edelman Financial Services pondered the conversation between financial advisors and their clients. “How are they going to explain to their clients when the client finally says should I buy bitcoin? What do you think? By the way, do you own it?” he described, anticipating the advisor would say: “Oh yeah I’ve owned it for years. I just never told you to buy it.”
Many people expect the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve multiple spot bitcoin ETFs at once, including the analysts at JPMorgan. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said this week, “We still holding line at 90% odds of approval by Jan 10,” noting that it’s “the same odds we’ve had for months.”
Do you think many financial advisors will recommend spot bitcoin ETFs to their clients? Let us know in the comments section below.
