A recent survey by Bitwise Asset Management, in collaboration with VettaFi, revealed that sentiment around crypto among financial advisors has significantly improved following the victory of Republican candidate Donald Trump in the November 2024 US election.
Crypto Sentiment Improved After Trump’s Victory
Conducted between November 14 and December 20, the survey offers fresh insights into the attitudes of financial advisors serving high-net-worth clients toward digital assets. Notably, the survey found that 56% of financial advisors are now more likely to invest in digital assets due to the outcome of the US presidential election.
The survey also highlighted a doubling of digital assets allocation rates year-over-year (YoY) to a new record. Specifically, the percentage of financial advisors allocating to digital assets increased from 11% in 2023 to 22% in 2024.
An overwhelming 96% of advisors reported receiving inquiries from clients about digital assets over the past year. Moreover, 99% of advisors currently allocating crypto to client portfolios plan to either maintain or increase their exposure in 2025.
Commenting, Bitwise CIO, Matt Hougan said that 2024 was nothing short of a watershed year for the cryptocurrency industry. He added:
Advisors are awakening to crypto’s potential like never before, and they’re allocating like never before. But perhaps most staggering is how much room we still have to run, with two-thirds of all financial advisors – who advise millions of Americans and manage trillions in assets – still unable to access crypto for clients. We see that changing in 2025 as the Mainstream Era of Crypto continues apace.
Interestingly, among advisors who have not yet made any digital assets allocations, 19% said they would “definitely” or “probably” add exposure this year – more than double the 8% who gave a similar response in 2024.
Bitcoin ETFs Made Clients More Comfortable With Digital Assets
A major development in the crypto industry last year was the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF). Later in the year, the SEC also approved spot Ethereum (ETF) ETFs, making it easier for both retail and institutional investors to gain exposure to the top digital assets.
To say that crypto ETFs have proved to be successful would be an understatement. According to digital assets ETF data-tracker SoSoValue, total net assets held across US spot BTC ETFs stands at $106.8 billion, accounting for 5.74% of Bitcoin’s total market cap. The survey notes:
Among the most important features when choosing a bitcoin ETF, expense ratio ranked highest at 58%. Interestingly, brand of issuer (46%) and issuer support (43%) came in above AUM (28%), suggesting the importance advisors place on subject matter expertise among asset managers in a specialized industry like crypto.
Despite the launch of BTC and ETH ETFs in 2024, easy access to digital assets still remains a concern, as only 35% of advisors reported being able to purchase crypto for client accounts. At press time, BTC trades at $94,184, up 0.1% in the past 24 hours.
