Wall St Investor Ric Edelman Jumps in, Says Bitcoin ETF is Coming

Ric Edelman, the legendary Wall Street investor, adviser and best-selling author, has invested in Bitwise Asset Management, the creator of the world’s first cryptocurrency index fund. Edelman is also serving as an advisor to the company.

In an interview for CNBC’s ‘Fast Money’, the investor said the implications of cryptocurrency are far-reaching. Edelman also said financial advisors must educate themselves about crypto and blockchain.

“I’m bullish on it because Bitcoin is now ten years old. It’s a $200 billion market in crypto total, Bitcoin is about 40% of that,” said Edelman for CNBC. “Clearly, it’s here to stay.”

Edelman is the chairman and co-founder of Edelman Financial Services, which was recently named the number one registered investment advisor in the US by Barron’s. Edelman Financial Services has $22 billion in assets under management.

Edelman called investments in the space “massive”, while criticizing financial advisers for what he perceived to be a “lack of expertise”. “I’m discovering [they] really don’t know much about it, no more than their clients do. Which means advisors can’t effectively give advice to their clients.” Edelman will partner with Bitwise to help financial advisors understand blockchain and the crypto space.

The investor said his goal was to ‘raise the bar’ for awareness, education and knowledge and force advisors to learn more about the space, so they can be ‘of greater value and help to their clients’.

When asked whether cryptocurrencies are a separate assets class to bonds, stocks or commodities, Edelman affirmed crypto assets are ‘a store of value’ like gold, oil, and other natural resources. “It is here to stay,” said the influential advisor.

“Most people today do not understand the blockchain. They don’t understand crypto assets. They’re still calling them cryptocurrencies, for example. And so we need to get people to be much more aware of this.”

According to Edelman, the crypto market has gotten too big to ignore and cashless society is bound to happen, with technology such as Ethereum and smart contracts irreversibly changing the financial industry. Although he claimed the lack of regulations creates a ‘Wild West’ environment, plagued by frauds and scams, he still believed Bitcoin ETFs to be inevitable.

“The day will come – I’m convinced, when the SEC creates, or allows, a Bitcoin ETF. And that will change everything.”