📈 Financial Advisors Turn Bullish on Crypto in 2026
The research results are in, and –
Financial advisors are focusing their crypto recommendations on new ATHs.
📌What happened
New survey data shows that financial advisors are investing in crypto at the highest level ever.
This is a meaningful shift in the way this particular cohort has viewed and now allocates digital assets to their traditional customer portfolios.
Key conclusions from the data:
- 32% of advisors reported that they had allocated cryptocurrencies into client accounts in the past yearan increase from 22% in 2024 (a record high for the survey)
- 56% of advisors now personally own cryptothe highest level of advisor ownership since the survey began in 2018
- Among the client portfolios with exposure to cryptocurrencies is 64% now allocate more than 2% to cryptoincreased sharply compared to 51% last year
- 42% of advisors said they now have institutional access to buy crypto for clientscompared to 35% in 2024 and only 19% in 2023
- When asked which themes interest them most, stablecoins and tokenization led to 30% interestfollowed by ‘digital gold/fiat debasement’ (22%) and crypto-linked AI investments (19%)
Financial advisors are finally embracing crypto – and they’re jumping in with both feet.
🗣️ What they say
“1% allocation to $BITB at customers. Email from a large wealth team at a major US bank. Regular investors end up in this asset class —” – Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise
🧠Why it matters
This is what real investment adoption looks like.
In recent years, the institutional story of crypto has revolved around hedge funds, DATs and ETFs.
But financial advisors are perhaps the most important distribution channel of all, because they sit between the markets and millions of end investors.
The data points to three major implications for 2026:
- First, crypto is increasingly being treated as a core portfolio asset. Allocations above 2% are becoming the norm where crypto has a presence, indicating longer-term positioning.
- Second, access increases adoption. As more advisors gain the ability to purchase crypto on compliant, institutional rails, allocations will naturally follow. The jump from 19% access in 2023 to 42% today is an important and telling shift.
- Third, the stories become more mature. Advisors focus on stablecoins, tokenization, and macro use cases.
There is an analogy that wealth advisors do not move like speedboats, but more like cruise ships or oil tankers. They are slow and methodical, but once they start going in a certain direction they are very difficult to stop and tend to keep going.
That is why this tipping point is so important.
Once financial advisors start offering crypto to their clients, they will likely continue to do so. And add and increase portfolio allocations.
This is the infinite tick. And this is the wave (or tsunami) of buying pressure that will eventually overtake Bitcoin and broader crypto sellers.
It’s only a matter of time…
🌎 Macrocrypto and markets
A few headlines that stood out:
- Crypto majors are very green with Bitcoin hitting a new two-month high; BTC +3% at $95,100; ETH +5% at $3,300, SOL +2% at $145; XRP +3% to $2.12
- IP (+22%), DASH (+22%), ICP (+16%) and PUMP (+13%) led top gainers; XMR once again reached a new ATH at $715
- Visa works with the stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK to integrate stablecoin pre-funding and instant payouts into it Visa Direct real-time payment platform
- Coingecko considering a sale for $500 million, with Moelis & Company brought in to help them explore options
- A draft provision in the Clarity Act would scholarship XRP, Solana, Dogecoin and others have the same non-security status as Bitcoin and ETH (along with all ETF assets)
- Galaxy research warned that the new draft Clarity Bill will give the Treasury Department too much audit power
- Bipartisan lawmakers has introduced a bill to clarify when crypto developers and infrastructure providers are treated as money transmitters under federal law
- Wintermute reported that OTC crypto liquidity is concentrated in BTC and ETH as broader altcoin rallies fade into 2025
- Polygon announced its Open Money Stack, which became a regulated US payments platform after the acquisitions of Coinme and Sequence
In corporate bonds/ETFs
- The BTC ETFs saw net inflows of $753.8 million on Monday, the highest day since October 10; ETH ETFs saw net inflows of $150 million
- SharpLink shared plans to expand in 2026 after amassing nearly $3 billion in ETH and betting $170 million on Linea, ultimately targeting 5% of the ETH supply
- A newly formed Kraken-linked SPAC submitted for a $250 million U.S. public offering
- Semler Scientific shareholders approved a merger with Vivek’s Strive Inc. good at an all-stock deal
In Memes / Onchain movers
- Meme majors were mostly green, with some posting gains of 5-10%; Doge +5%, Shiba +1%, PEPE +10%, TRUMP +3%, Bonk +7%, Pengu +6%, SPX +3%, WIF +9% and Fartcoin +9%
- Ralph (+57%), 1 (+39%), 67 (+20%) and Buttcoin (+30%) led notable onchain movers
💰 Token, airdrop and protocol tracker
- Fogo launched his symbolic airdrop claim page ahead of Thursday’s TGE
- ETHGas Foundation introduced its GWEI token and announced a snapshot for January 19
- Binance announced that Aster will drive perpetrators into its Binance Wallet, with Aster points incentives and a $200,000 prize pool
- Yzi Labs has made an eight-figure investment in Genius Trading, a privacy-focused platform that aims to build an onchain Binance, with CZ joining as an advisor
- Backpack announced a new prediction market with a cross-margin function
- Rekt drinks sold out its World Star Cherry Cola in less than a day
🚚 What’s happening in NFTs?
- NFT Leaders were largely flat on the day; Punks even at 29.2 ETH, Pudgy even at 5.13 ETH and BAYC +4% at 5.88 ETH; Hypurr -1% 508 HYPE
- Chimpanzees (+14%) and Good Vibes (+8%) were the leaders
- Token works announced that anyone can now create an ERC20 strategy token
