Key facts
- 52% of UK financial advisers reported that the majority of their clients' digital assets exposure was "invisible" to them.
- In the EU, 25% of advisers faced similar issues, with 61% working at firms with restrictive digital asset policies or no clear guidance.
- CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti stated firm policies, not client unwillingness or knowledge gaps, are the primary barrier.
- The UK's FCA reported approximately 8% of UK adults are invested in crypto.
- The FCA recently proposed allowing authorized investment funds to hold up to 10% in cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes.
A survey by digital asset services provider CoinShares has revealed that a significant majority of wealth advisers in the UK and EU face challenges in overseeing their clients' cryptocurrency holdings. The survey found that 52% of UK-based financial advisers reported that the bulk of their clients' crypto assets were essentially "invisible" to them. This lack of visibility is primarily attributed to firm policies that either explicitly restrict digital assets or fail to provide clear internal guidance.
Across the European Union, including countries like France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, 25% of advisers reported similar issues. Furthermore, 61% of EU advisers indicated they worked for companies with policies that restricted digital assets or offered no clear guidance on the matter. CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti emphasized that this is not a problem of client willingness or adviser knowledge, but rather a "firm-policy problem" that creates "wrong-way risk."
In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) reported in December that approximately 8% of the country's adults were invested in crypto. The FCA has recently proposed allowing authorized investment funds to hold up to a 10% allocation of cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes. The political landscape in the UK could also see shifts in crypto policy, with Andy Burnham, a newly elected member of parliament who previously supported the blockchain industry, being a favored candidate to replace resigned Labour leader Keir Starmer.