Investments are ramping up in the retail sector. 

Financial leaders are diving in left and right.  

And it would appear that even the current presidential administration in the U.S. is on board. 

Cryptocurrency isn’t just a passing trend — it’s an asset class that’s here to say. 

This opens up a whole host of opportunities for financial advisors who are well prepared to help their clients wisely handle their digital coins.

However, that’s certainly easier said than done when all the existing solutions for managing (and helping clients manage) assets aren’t exactly equipped to handle alternative asset types such as crypto.  

This puts a considerable strain on advisors who need to keep their tools up to date so they can serve investors — the majority of whom (55%) report interest in cryptocurrency, specifically Bitcoin.

To keep winning clients even as the finance world changes rapidly, here’s everything you need to know to be able to call yourself a “cryptocurrency financial advisor.” 

Quick Recap: What Cryptocurrency Is

To put it simply, cryptocurrency is a digital currency that exists and can be used to purchase goods and services solely virtually. 

The prefix “crypto” signifies that it’s secured using cryptography. It’s further secured by its very structure. Most cryptocurrencies exist on a technological platform called blockchain, which securely records transactions without recording the identity of the person making the transaction. 

Crypto is such a revolutionary type of asset because the blockchain on which it lives is decentralized, meaning it exists outside the control of any central government or bank. 

This is why new investors find crypto so intriguing — and why financial advisors know it’s important to thoroughly understand crypto and have the tools to handle it before offering to manage it for their clients.

Why Now Is the Time to Position Yourself as a Cryptocurrency Financial Advisor  

We’ve said it before and this is the perfect place to say it again: Crypto is going mainstream

Not only are investors interested, but so is pretty much everyone else. 

In 2019, the asset management firm Fidelity Investments Inc. began offering Bitcoin custody through their subsidiary, Fidelity Digital Assets.

In 2020, the financial services company Square invested around $50 million (at the time) in Bitcoin to make a point — crypto is the future of economic empowerment. 

Then just this year in 2021, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in the U.S. authorized banks to deal in crypto.

In light of cryptocurrency going mainstream, right now is the ideal time to outpace your competition by positioning yourself as a capable financial advisor who is ready to manage crypto and beyond.

How to Set Yourself up to Be a Cryptocurrency Financial Advisor 

The 2020 Benchmark Survey of Financial Advisor Attitudes Toward Cryptoassets study by Bitwise and ETF Trends found that 76% of everyone surveyed had had clients ask about cryptocurrency

In addition, 72% said they thought their clients were already dabbling in crypto but hadn’t incorporated it into their advisory relationship. 

Do you know what that means? 

The chances are high that even your existing clients would love for you to offer crypto management services. 

Here’s how to prepare yourself to be the cryptocurrency financial advisor today’s high-net-worth individuals want to work with. 

Deepen Your Crypto Knowledge

According to the same 2020 survey, one of the big reasons advisors are hesitant to invest client funds in crypto is their own personal lack of understanding and confidence when it comes to discussing cryptocurrency in depth with clients. 

However, we already know that a majority of your clients are interested in crypto, so it’s only a matter of time before they start asking questions. 

That means it’s time for you to brush up so you’re able to answer them.

Of course, you’ll want to be familiar with the meaning behind the most common crypto terms, such as: Blockchain, blocks, distributed ledger, exchange, wallet, key, token, mining, the most common types of cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.), and so on.

Aside from reading up on crypto, another great way to learn about it is to trade in it! It’s a lot easier to effectively speak on and manage your client’s crypto when you have practical experience of the ins and outs of the markets. 

And it’s important to know that while major cryptocurrencies aren’t technically beholden to any single governmental entity, there are sometimes local measures in place that will impact the way crypto should be managed.

For example, while some countries have outright banned the practice of investing in crypto, other places in the world, such as Wyoming in the U.S., are pushing initiatives to make crypto as widely accepted as any traditional assets.  

To keep yourself and your clients out of trouble, be sure to get familiar with any crypto regulations in the region where you plan to advise. 

Renew Your Commitment to Diversification, Now More Than Ever

While the number fluctuates, there are at least several thousand different cryptocurrencies on the market at any given time. In fact, in Jan. of 2021 there were more than 4,000 different types of coins. And hundreds — maybe even thousands — of cryptocurrencies have failed since their inception. 

So while crypto as an asset class has been deemed dependable, coins will continue to fail and succeed as the volatile asset class rides out the sharp rises and dips that impact every brand-new asset. 

This fluctuation only goes to show that, just like plenty of financial experts espouse, portfolio diversification is more important than ever for the modern investor. 

Renew Your Commitment to Diversification, Now More Than Ever

Hone Your Risk and Security Management Measures

The decentralized structure of cryptocurrency makes it unlikely that a singular set of rules will ever govern crypto trading. That translates to crypto being a yet unregulated sector. Without regulations, there is little that governments can do to protect investors from unfair practices and ensure that markets act in a reasonably predictable way. 

But that’s just the first risk you need to know about.

Next, there’s the fact that a decentralized structure also promotes anonymity — something that phishers, scammers, and other bad actors will use in their favor any chance they get. 

In addition to this, there’s just the inherent hacking risk associated with assets that are accessible via the internet.

If you’re going to deal in digital asset advising, you need to not only make your clients aware of these risks and security concerns but also be prepared to manage them. 

Anyone who wants to be a serious cryptocurrency financial advisor should at least consider securing the networks they use to access client info, implementing multi-factor authentication when signing into their software, installing firewalls, and possibly even hiring a specialized cybersecurity provider. 

Try Crypto Trading for Yourself

In many cases, the best way to learn the ins and outs of any given process is to dive into it yourself — and cryptocurrency investing is no different.

We strongly consider you at least give cryptocurrency trading a try to get more familiar with the asset type before you start managing it or advising clients on how they should handle it. 

While crypto trading can seem like quite a foreign concept, it isn’t actually that different from trading traditional assets. Here are the basics: 

Just like stocks, crypto coins need a location where they can be traded. These are called exchanges and there are several popular options, such as Coinbase, Bisq, and so on. 

Once you’re registered with an exchange and have funds in your account, it’s time to choose a wallet. Wallets enable investors to store and move crypto coins around. Many major cryptocurrencies have their own wallets, but multi-currency wallets also exist.  

You now have everything you need to trade cryptocurrency — well, except for a little old thing called knowledge

Crypto is still quite volatile in the grand scheme of asset classes, so you might want to check out how various coins are performing (try CoinMarketCap), stay on top of crypto news (try CoinDesk), and even get familiar with some of the indices that are hitting the market (try Cryptoindex 100) before committing your money anywhere. 

(Find a more in-depth walkthrough of getting started with crypto trading here.)

You don’t need to pull in millions of dollars in returns to be a reliable cryptocurrency financial advisor, you just need to be familiar enough with how the crypto market moves and changes to give reliable advice to the clients who want it. 

Modernize Your Asset Management Platform

With your crypto lingo down, your diversification strategy and security measures beefed up, and a little bit of your own skin in the game, there’s just one thing missing for you to confidently market yourself as a cryptocurrency financial advisor — a modern asset management platform. 

Not only are most of the existing asset management tools for financial advisors outdated and hard for clients to interact with, none of them can handle the complex mix of traditional and modern assets in which today’s clients are interested. 

This means you’re either unable to capture all of your clients’ assets under management or, worse, you’re spending outrageous amounts of time manually visiting all their different financial platforms and gathering all the data you need to generate useful reports. 

For the modern cryptocurrency financial advisor and their clients, there’s finally a modern solution: Kubera.

Kubera is the only all-in-one solution that financial advisors can white-label as if it’s their own and then share with clients so they can easily input all the different assets in which they’re invested.

And we mean all

With Kubera, your clients can add, manage, and optimize various assets including stocks, bonds, vehicles, collectibles, real estate, and — of course — modern digital assets like domains, ecommerce stores, crypto exchanges, cryptocurrency wallets, and even individual crypto coins with help from our cutting-edge market tickers.

For the full list of all the different types of assets Kubera can handle, check out our spreadsheet here.

Kubera means no more lost advisor fees for you on out-of-scope investments and no more incomplete picture of their financial situation for your clients. 

And don’t worry, more assets don’t mean you have to waste more time converting all your clients’ assets back and forth. Kubera supports all major currencies and automates the conversion process to give you a simplified view of the real-time value of their entire portfolio. 

In addition, Kubera integrates with leading asset experts (such as Zillow, EstiBot, and more) to feed your clients’ dashboards with even more up-to-date data on the value of their key investments. 

kubera zillow

On top of all these cutting-edge features, what really makes Kubera stand out is how easy it is for both you and your clients to use and understand

Not only is inputting assets reminiscent of working with the simplest spreadsheet software, but our beautifully designed charts and visual analysis features make it easy to get an accurate snapshot of how a client’s assets, net worth, and entire portfolio is performing. 

Kubera is designed to help cryptocurrency financial advisors, bankers, and other financial professionals deliver the modern support that today’s diversified investors want — and for which they’re willing to pay. 

Interested in seeing it in action for yourself? 

Then it’s time for you to contact our small and helpful team at hello@kubera.com today for a demo. 

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