72% of Financial Advisors Would Invest More in Crypto If Spot ETF Were Available: Nasdaq Survey

A new Nasdaq survey of financial advisors found that 72% would be more likely to invest client assets in cryptocurrencies if they had access to a spot ETF product.

However, only 38% of the advisors surveyed said they think it’s likely the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will approve a spot ETF in 2022. Almost as many, 31%, think it’s unlikely the SEC will approve a spot crypto ETF product this year.

The mix of excitement and skepticism surrounding a spot crypto ETF hasn’t stopped financial advisors from finding other ways to add crypto exposure to their portfolios.

“The vast majority of advisors we surveyed either plan to begin allocating to crypto or increase their existing allocation to crypto,” said Jake Rapaport, head of digital asset index research at Nasdaq. “As demand continues to surge, advisors will be looking for an institutional solution to the crypto question that now dominates client conversations.”

The 500 advisors, polled last month by 8 Acre Perspective on behalf of Nasdaq, manage $26 trillion on for their clients.

None of the advisors who already have a portion of their portfolio in crypto planned to decrease it over the next year. The vast majority, 86%, plan to increase their crypto allocations.

Only four in 10 advisors were considering investing in individual cryptocurrencies, according to the survey. Sixty-nine percent said they would consider using an index fund for broad crypto exposure. 

Teucrium's Bitcoin futures ETF sparks spot ETF talk

The fervor surrounding a possible spot Bitcoin ETF approval reignited last week when the SEC approved the Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund. Unlike the other futures Bitcoin ETFs, the application for this one was filed under the Securities Act of 1933. 

The SEC has said that the 1933 act doesn’t offer enough consumer protections in several of its spot Bitcoin ETF denials, most recently the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF. But now that a futures Bitcoin ETF has been approved under it, it appears a major obstacle has been removed.