56% of Financial Advisors Are More Likely To Invest in Crypto in 2025 Because of the Election: Bitwise/VettaFi Annual Survey

Bitwise Asset Management, a global crypto-specialist asset manager with more than $12 billion in client assets,¹ and VettaFi, a leading data-driven ETF platform, today released the seventh annual “Bitwise/VettaFi 2025 Benchmark Survey of Financial Advisor Attitudes Toward Crypto Assets.”

Initiated the week after the 2024 U.S. election, the much-anticipated survey provides a valuable window into advisors’ increasing enthusiasm for crypto on the heels of a landmark year that saw the approval of the first spot Bitcoin and spot Ethereum ETFs in the U.S.

The survey, which ran from November 14 to December 20, provided several key findings:

1. CRYPTO EMERGED AS A STRONG WINNER IN THE 2024 U.S. ELECTIONS: Fifty-six percent (56%) of advisors said they were more likely to invest in crypto in 2025 as a result of the election.
2. CRYPTO ALLOCATION RATES DOUBLED YEAR-OVER-YEAR TO A NEW HIGH: Twenty-two percent (22%) of advisors reported allocating to crypto in client accounts this past year. That’s double the rate in 2023 (11%) and an all-time high for the survey.
3. CLIENT INTEREST IS STRONGER THAN EVER: Ninety-six percent (96%) of advisors received a question about crypto from clients last year.
4. ONCE YOU INVEST, YOU TEND TO STAY INVESTED (OR INVEST MORE): Ninety-nine percent (99%) of advisors who currently have an allocation to crypto in client accounts plan to either maintain or increase that exposure in 2025.
5. ADVISORS ARE MUCH MORE INCLINED TO MAKE AN INITIAL ALLOCATION FOR CLIENTS. Of those advisors who have not yet allocated for clients, 19% are “definitely” or “probably” planning to add exposure in 2025, more than double the previous year’s 8%.
6. WHEN CHOOSING BITCOIN ETFS, ADVISORS PRIZE EXPERTISE: 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.
7. ACCESS REMAINS A MAJOR BARRIER TO ADOPTION: Despite the emergence of spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs in 2024, only 35% of advisors said they are able to buy crypto in client accounts.
8. MANY CLIENTS ARE INVESTING IN CRYPTO OUTSIDE THE ADVISORY RELATIONSHIP: Seventy-one percent (71%) of advisors said “some” or “all” of their clients were investing in crypto on their own. These held-away assets represent a major business opportunity for advisors seeking to help clients integrate crypto into a broader wealth plan.
9. CRYPTO EQUITY ETFS CONTINUE TO BE ADVISORS’ TOP CHOICE: When advisors were asked what crypto exposure they were most interested in allocating to in 2025, crypto equity ETFs were the favorite.
10. REGULATORY UNCERTAINTY, WHILE STILL SIGNIFICANT, HAS TAPERED: While 50% of advisors cited regulatory uncertainty as the top obstacle to future crypto investments, the figure dropped markedly from prior surveys, where it had ranged from 60% to 65%.

“If you had any doubt that 2024 was a massive inflection point for crypto, this year’s Bitwise/VettaFi survey dispels it,” said Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. “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.”

"We have partnered with Bitwise to survey advisor sentiment toward cryptocurrency long before spot bitcoin ETFs changed the game, and we've never been more excited," said Todd Rosenbluth, Head of Research for TMX VettaFi. "Based on the latest data, the future is very bright as advisors and investors gain more access and education about the potential benefits. Asset managers like Bitwise bring tremendous expertise to the ETF community and we are honored to work with them."

Over 400 financial advisors answered a series of questions on crypto assets and their use in client portfolios. Survey respondents included independent registered investment advisors, broker-dealer representatives, financial planners, and wirehouse representatives from across the U.S. The full survey results can be read here.

About Bitwise

Bitwise Asset Management is a global crypto-specialist asset manager with more than $10 billion in client assets. Since 2017, Bitwise has established a track record of excellence helping investors understand and access the opportunities in crypto. Bitwise manages a suite of over 30 investment products in the U.S. and Europe, spanning ETPs, index funds, alpha and SMA strategies, and staking solutions. With a nationwide client team and deep access to the crypto ecosystem, Bitwise is known for providing unparalleled client support along with expert research and commentary. The Bitwise team of more than 90 professionals combines expertise in technology and asset management with backgrounds including BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, Meta, Google, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Bitwise is backed by leading institutional investors and has been profiled in Institutional Investor, Barron’s, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal. It has offices in San Francisco, New York, and London.

About VettaFi

VettaFi is a provider of indexing, data & analytics, industry-leading conferences, and digital distribution services to ETF issuers and fund managers. It operates the ETFdb, Advisor Perspectives, and ETF Trends websites and the LOGICLY portfolio analytics platform—engaging millions of investors annually—empowering and educating the modern financial advisor and institutional investor. For more information, please visit www.vettafi.com.

VettaFi, LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of TMX Group Limited (TMX Group). For more information about TMX Group, please visit www.tmx.com.

Risks and Important Information

No Advice on Investment; Risk of Loss: Prior to making any investment decision, each investor must undertake its own independent examination and investigation, including the merits and risks involved in an investment, and must base its investment decision—including a determination whether the investment would be a suitable investment for the investor—on such examination and investigation.

Crypto assets are digital representations of value that function as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value, but they do not have legal tender status. Crypto assets are sometimes exchanged for U.S. dollars or other currencies around the world, but they are not currently backed nor supported by any government or central bank. Their value is completely derived by market forces of supply and demand, and they are more volatile than traditional currencies, stocks, or bonds.

Trading in crypto assets comes with significant risks, including volatile market price swings or flash crashes, market manipulation, and cybersecurity risks and risk of losing principal or all of your investment. In addition, crypto asset markets and exchanges are not regulated with the same controls or customer protections available in equity, option, futures, or foreign exchange investing.

Crypto asset trading requires knowledge of crypto asset markets. In attempting to profit through crypto asset trading, you must compete with traders worldwide. You should have appropriate knowledge and experience before engaging in substantial crypto asset trading. Crypto asset trading can lead to large and immediate financial losses. Under certain market conditions, you may find it difficult or impossible to liquidate a position quickly at a reasonable price.

The opinions expressed represent an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and are not intended to be a forecast of future events, or a guarantee of future results, and are subject to further discussion, completion and amendment. The information herein is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, accounting, legal or tax advice, or investment recommendations. You should consult your accounting, legal, tax or other advisors about the matters discussed herein.

¹ As of January 8, 2025.

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