Financial advisors say investors are boosting crypto allocations
The mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies became more pronounced in 2025 than ever before, particularly in the United States where the Trump administration ushered in a new regulatory framework that has helped boost interest in digital assets among both retail and institutional investors.
That interest does not seem to be waning, despite the crypto industry suffering its worst year since the crash of 2022. In fact, bitcoin alone lost more than 30% of value in the span of two months at the end of 2025.
But the enthusiasm will likely continue to grow due to the fact that the digital asset space has become increasingly more welcoming to even crypto novices.
This has happened through the advent of bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, the GENIUS Act's regulation of stablecoins in the US, and because retail-focused platforms like Robinhood (HOOD) are expanding rapidly into the cryptocurrency markets.
A new survey by Bitwise Asset Management, a crypto-specialist asset manager, and VettaFi, a leading index provider, sheds light on the growing investor interest in digital assets.
The eighth annual “Bitwise/VettaFi 2026 Benchmark Survey of Financial Advisor Attitudes Toward Crypto Assets” found that advisors allocated to crypto at the highest rate in the survey's history.
To be sure, it is still a minority of advisors who are currently allocating to crypto in client portfolios (32%), compared to those who don't (68%).
But it's a 10% increase over the 22% who allocated to crypto in 2024 and substantially more than the 11% who did in 2023.
Meanwhile, 78% of advisors said their clients weren't getting exposure to digital assets in 2024 and 89% in 2023.
"Crypto’s future has always depended on what financial advisors think of it,” Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said in a statement. “They are trusted guides to millions of families and responsible for stewarding trillions of dollars in wealth. And in 2025, advisors embraced crypto like never before.”
Advisors weren't scared off by volatility
About 94% of advisors said they've received questions about crypto from clients about crypto in 2025, which is roughly the same as it was in 2024 (96%).
However, respondents also said that 74% of their clients were investing in crypto outside of their advisory relationship, which is up slightly from the 71% who were in 2024.
One effect of the mainstreaming of crypto has been that a growing number of wealth management firms appear to be allowing their advisors to allocate client assets to digital assets. The survey found that 42% of respondents said they were allowed to to invest in crypto, compared to 35% in 2024.
Advisors are keeping their client allocations to cryptocurrencies modest, with 83% of client portfolio exposure below 5%. Bitwise notes that this aligns with its own general recommendation for how much of a portfolio should be allocated to digital assets.
ETFs were the preferred vehicle for investing in crypto for 77% of respondents, with 12% saying they invested through direct ownership of individual coins.
Of the advisors who said they were not allocating to crypto yet, 18% are "definitely" or "probably" going to allocate to the space in 2026, while another 38% are considering it.
But of those financial advisors who are currently allocating to crypto, 99% plan to maintain or increase exposure this year.
“People have wondered what advisors would do if crypto hit a patch of volatility,” Hougan said. “We have our answer: They're planning to buy more."