What to Expect From CoinDesk’s Bitcoin for Advisors Conference

On Wednesday, Oct. 6, starting at 9 a.m. ET (6 a.m. PT), CoinDesk will host Bitcoin for Advisors 2021. Focused on the changing financial landscape, the annual event aims to equip advisors with the tools to best understand how bitcoin, ethereum and other digital assets can successfully impact their clients’ portfolios.

Once again, Bitcoin for Advisors will be an online-only event. Like with other recent online events from CoinDesk, we anticipate some exciting announcements and insights from our guests.

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While the sessions will mainly focus on the basics of bitcoin, they’ll take a deep dive into practice management, portfolio theory, and even decentralized finance (DeFi). We’ll be live-tweeting the event as it happens on Wednesday, of course.

In many ways, bitcoin has become less of a speculative asset since the first Bitcoin for Advisors conference in 2020 — certainly when compared to years prior, during which the industry rallied around the “institutions are here” narrative only to have been met with a bear market that brought bitcoin from ~$20,000 to ~$3,000 in 2018.

Yet, somehow in the midst of a black swan event that spurred a global pandemic, lockdowns and unfettered quantitative easing, the institutions are, indeed, finally here. Which means financial advisors (FAs) and registered investment advisors (RIAs) are not too far behind, right?

Well, the headlines may say one thing, but what’s top of mind for advisors right now when it comes to looking at crypto assets for their clients? What’s the biggest challenge they face as we sit here today? We hope to answer these questions and more at Bitcoin for Advisors. Here’s some of what we’re looking out for at the event:

Highly acclaimed financial advisor Ric Edelman is the event’s first keynote. Edelman built the biggest independent advisory firm in the nation and is on a mission to be the face and bridge between old money and new.

According to Edelman, a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is inevitable, and it’s already arrived in other jurisdictions (notably Canada). However, delays in the U.S. as well as other significant barriers have led financial managers to sit on their client’s cash as the dust settles. In his talk at Bitcoin for Advisors, Edelman hopes to remove the mystery about blockchain and digital assets and help advisors to “get off zero.”

But advisors need more than a man on a mission, they need a multifaceted approach that resonates with their practice and clients. That’s why the conference will explore compliance, practice management and tax implications – the whole package.

Another keynote speaker will offer a nerd’s perspective on the financial planning world. (Yes, we’re talking about Michael Kitces.) Kitces, who is famous for his “Nerd’s Eye View” blog, takes a bit of a more cautious approach to bitcoin. On one hand, he notes, advisors can’t fall behind and not learn about digital assets; on the other hand, the jury is still out.

Nonetheless, advisors will leave this event with a new vocabulary and a better understanding of the cryptocurrency landscape. With the ever-expanding crypto market attracting the attention of Janet Yellen, Elizabeth Warren and Gary Gensler, the financial planning world has no choice but to adapt or be disrupted.