Ric Edelman, the founder of Edelman Financial Engines, which is a $300 billion investment advisory firm, made recent interesting comments with his latest recommendation on crypto. In a new whitepaper published through the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP), Edelman issued a direct call to investors to rethink the traditional 60/40 stock-bond allocation model and increase their exposure to cryptocurrencies from between 10% of their portfolio up to 40%.
Rethinking The 60/40 Portfolio To Crypto
In the whitepaper to investors, Ric Edelman proclaims that the 60/40 stock-bond allocation model is dead and rendered obsolete by longer life spans and technological innovation. Thus, smart investors must adopt strategies that are future-proof and resilient to changes in finance and technology. Cryptocurrencies provide exactly that kind of opportunity for investors.
In Edelman’s opinion, conservative investors should have 10% of their portfolio in cryptocurrencies, moderate investors should place 25% of their portfolios in crypto, and aggressive investors should allocate 40% of their investments to crypto.
In a recent appearance on CNBC’s Crypto World segment, Edelman justified his outlook, arguing that crypto should now occupy a significant share of the equity allocation portion of portfolios. “Within that huge equity allocation, crypto needs a much bigger role because it’s representing the best investment opportunity of the decade,” he said.
He also noted that it’s no longer about speculation. The speculation lies in not owning crypto at all. In the DACFP paper, he stressed that omitting digital assets is equivalent to shorting the market, especially now that a market-weighted global index would include around 3% crypto exposure by default.
From Skepticism To Aggressive Endorsement
Edelman’s latest recommendations mark a dramatic shift from his earlier views. In his 2021 book, The Truth About Crypto, he advised investors to place only 1% of their portfolios in cryptocurrencies, but that was then. Today, he is urging conservative investors to allocate up to 40% in cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, the financial advisor also advised other financial advisors to up their portfolio recommendations from 2.5% to at least 10%.
This evolution, he explains, is due to the unprecedented transformation crypto has undergone over the past four years since he released his book. According to Edelman, the crypto industry is no longer an experimental sector like it was in 2021. It’s now a core financial asset class. Furthermore, there’s no longer a question as to whether or not the government likes crypto or not and is going to support its development.
Looking ahead, Edelman’s bullish stance is firmly rooted in long-term projections. While speaking at the Vision conference early last month, he projected that Bitcoin could reach a $19 trillion market cap by 2030. He has also placed a $500,000 price target on Bitcoin, basing his estimate on simple supply-demand math.
According to him, global investable assets across all classes (stocks, bonds, real estate, cash, and more) amount to about $750 trillion. If just 1% of this capital flowed into Bitcoin, it would equate to $7.5 trillion in inflows. On a per-coin basis, this would push Bitcoin’s valuation to approximately $377,000. Factoring in Bitcoin’s current price, Edelman arrives at a $500,000 target.
