CoinShares says its latest survey of UK wealth advisers points to a structural blind spot in how crypto is handled by traditional portfolios. More than half of UK advisers surveyed reported that most of their clients’ cryptocurrency exposure sits outside their firm’s visibility and oversight, raising concerns about risk management and advisory effectiveness.
The findings arrive as the UK’s regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), continues to shape the framework for crypto within retail and wealth contexts. CoinShares’ survey also comes amid wider political churn in the UK, where potential changes to leadership could influence how crypto policy develops over the coming months.
Key takeaways
- 52% of UK advisers surveyed said the majority of clients’ crypto holdings were “invisible” to them, according to CoinShares’ survey of 261 wealth management professionals.
- In the wider EU sample, the figure fell to 25%, suggesting the visibility problem is more pronounced in the UK.
- 61% of advisers in EU countries surveyed reported working at firms that either restrict digital assets or provide no clear internal guidance.
- CoinShares frames the issue as a firm-policy risk rather than a client demand or knowledge gap.
- UK FCA research indicates crypto penetration is still limited, with about 8% of adults reported as invested in crypto as of an FCA December update.
Why advisers say crypto is “invisible”
CoinShares’ survey, released on Thursday, polled 261 wealth management professionals across Europe. In the UK, 52% of advisers said that most of their clients’ digital asset exposure was effectively outside their oversight.
The survey indicates the pattern is not uniform across the continent. Looking across all EU countries included in the study—alongside countries such as France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland—just 25% of advisers said they faced the same level of limited visibility into clients’ crypto holdings.
CoinShares also reported that adviser constraints are often internal. In the EU-wide sample, 61% of respondents said they worked in companies that either explicitly restricted digital assets or offered no clear internal guidance for dealing with them. This matters because it shifts the core barrier from investor behavior to institutional policy—potentially limiting advisers’ ability to assess risk properly or tailor recommendations.
CoinShares CEO: it’s not a demand or knowledge problem
Jean-Marie Mognetti, CoinShares co-founder and CEO, argued that the central issue is governance within firms rather than a shortage of client willingness or adviser expertise. He said capital has already been earmarked, but the managers entrusted with it cannot “see” the underlying exposure.
In Mognetti’s view, the mismatch creates a “wrong-way risk” scenario: when advisers cannot observe holdings, they cannot properly allocate capital, manage risk, or build trust through transparent guidance. He added that “visibility comes before advice,” stressing that effective oversight is a prerequisite for sound portfolio management.
“ Visibility comes before advice. You cannot allocate, manage risk or earn trust over assets you cannot see.”
For investors, the practical implication is straightforward: if advisers lack an accurate picture of clients’ crypto exposure, portfolios may not reflect the true risk profile—especially during periods of crypto volatility when correlations and liquidity conditions can shift quickly. For firms, the challenge is equally material: incomplete visibility can undermine compliance processes and internal risk reporting that depend on accurate asset data.
FCA research and the push toward clearer allocation rules
The UK debate around crypto oversight continues to evolve, and CoinShares’ findings intersect with regulator activity. The FCA has previously reported that around 8% of UK adults are invested in crypto, according to research published in December.
In parallel, the FCA has also been linked to a policy direction that could change how crypto appears in mainstream portfolios. The regulator has reportedly proposed allowing authorized investment funds to hold up to a 10% allocation of cryptocurrency exchange-traded notes, as referenced in earlier coverage from Cointelegraph.
While CoinShares’ survey focuses on what advisers can actually see and handle, the FCA’s approach—if it proceeds—would shift the conversation from “whether advisers can access crypto in portfolios” to “how much exposure is permitted and how it must be structured.” The survey suggests that even when clients hold crypto, institutional visibility may not match the needs of regulated advisory and wealth management processes.
That tension—between growing regulatory pathways for crypto allocation and the on-the-ground reality of adviser oversight—may become more salient as retail and wealth vehicles integrate digital assets more explicitly.
UK politics: possible leadership change amid a policy question
Beyond regulation, political dynamics can influence the direction and pace of policy. Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer resigned as Labour leader amid pressure from within his party, creating space for a successor from the parliamentary ranks.
A by-election result has highlighted one candidate likely to be favored within Labour: Andy Burnham, a former Mayor of Greater Manchester, won a seat as a member of parliament representing Makerfield. While it remains unclear how Burnham might handle crypto policy at a national level, Cointelegraph earlier noted that during his time as mayor he supported the blockchain industry as a driver for economic development.
In the near term, the key question for market participants is less who the next leader is—and more what that leadership will prioritize in the relationship between traditional finance and digital assets. CoinShares’ survey underscores that policy is only part of the puzzle; firm-level rules and internal guidance can determine whether advisers actually have actionable access to clients’ crypto exposure.
For readers watching UK crypto policy, two signals stand out: regulatory moves that clarify permitted crypto allocations for authorized funds, and industry efforts to improve adviser visibility into client holdings. If internal firm policies remain restrictive or guidance is still unclear, survey respondents’ concerns about “wrong-way risk” may persist even as the formal rules evolve.
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