CoinShares: A quarter of European capital managers do not see their clients' crypto assets
The digital asset market is facing a paradoxical situation: investors have already actively invested in cryptocurrencies, but their professional advisors are not even aware of it. My analysis of the latest study, which covered 261 wealth management professionals from France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and the UK, has revealed an alarming phenomenon — the "management gap."
The Scale of Invisibility
According to the data obtained, for 25% of European advisors, more than half of their clients' crypto portfolios are outside their control and awareness. The problem is particularly acute in the UK, where this figure reaches a shocking 52%. This means that a significant portion of capital is being managed in the shadows, without proper professional oversight.
The Root of the Problem — Not Knowledge, but Policy
The key conclusion I draw from this report: the reason is not a lack of knowledge among advisors or a lack of demand from clients. The main barrier is the internal policy of financial organizations. About 61% of surveyed professionals work in companies that either directly prohibit cryptocurrency transactions or lack clear regulations. Under such conditions, advisors recommend digital assets 4.5 times less frequently than their colleagues from crypto-friendly firms.
CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti rightly notes: capital has already been allocated, but managers simply do not see it. The lack of transparency hinders adequate risk assessment and the building of trust-based relationships, while clients, without waiting for official permissions, act independently.
Solutions and My Forecasts
Interestingly, 45% of respondents are waiting for regulatory recognition of cryptocurrencies, while 43% consider the launch of exchange-traded products a key step. At the same time, only 9% are interested in educational tools — the market is clearly waiting not for theory, but for practical solutions.
I expect that the entry into force of the MiCA regulation in July 2026 and the approval of cryptocurrency ETFs in Europe will become catalysts for change. These measures will help bring assets back under professional control and reduce the management gap. However, it is important to remember that institutional investors are already adjusting their strategies: in the first quarter of 2026, holders of Form 13F reduced their positions in US spot Bitcoin ETFs by 17%.
My expert opinion: The "management gap" is not just a statistical curiosity, but a serious signal for the entire industry. As long as the regulatory environment remains opaque and fragmented, capital will leak into gray areas, and trust between clients and advisors will weaken. Europe risks losing control over a significant portion of digital wealth if it does not accelerate the implementation of clear rules of the game.