Bitcoin
From Bears to Bulls: Financial Advisors Change Opinions About Bitcoin After Crash Course
Elsa Saikkonen | Mar 30, 2019 | 10:00
Financial advisors only need to be educated on Bitcoin (BTC) to turn from skeptics to believers.
Ric Edelman staged a Blockchain and Cryptoasset Pre-Event with Barron’s Top Independent Advisor Summit ten days ago. The event offered financial advisors Continuing Education Credits and was sponsored by major blockchain and cryptocurrency players Kingdom Trust, Bitwise Investments, Blockforce Capital, Fidelity Digital Assets, Grayscale Investments, Orion Advisor Services, Pantera Capital, State Street Global Advisors, and Van Eck. It was presented by The Advisor Blockchain and Crpyoassets Council.
At the event, no less than 155 of the United States’ “top financial advisors and influencers in the digital asset space” underwent a half-day of training and education pertaining to distributed ledger technology and cryptocurrencies / digital assets. Most of them went in as bears but came out as bulls — if an official press release is to be believed.
Newfound Bitcoin Bulls
According to said release, “virtually every participating advisor (96%) who completed a survey said they do not recommend cryptoassets to clients and almost eight in 10 (79%) do not plan to do so,” before the event.
Afterward, 89 percent held more favorable views towards cryptoassets and no longer considered Bitcoin (BTC) mere speculation. 82 percent, meanwhile, claimed they were more likely to purchase cryptocurrencies. 71 percent left believing Bitcoin would reach higher prices than they initially expected. Perhaps most importantly, 91 percent stated that they would cease discouraging their clients from purchasing cryptocurrencies.
Interpreting the results, Edelman stated:
This remarkable turnaround in attitude by these top financial advisors demonstrates the urgency of teaching advisors about this important emerging asset class. Advisors who can’t answer their clients’ questions about bitcoin will lose credibility with their clients, and they may end up losing the clients.
Who would’ve thought that a little knowledge on the subject would turn financial advisors into Bitcoin bulls? Now, they just need to read the whitepaper.
What do you think about financial advisors changing their opinions after a half-day of Bitcoin education? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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