The Silent Portfolio: A Quarter of European Wealth Managers Cannot See the Majority of Their Clients' Digital Assets

Rhea-AI Summary

CoinShares (Nasdaq: CSHR) released a 2026 survey of 261 European wealth advisers across five markets, highlighting a large digital asset “management gap.” 25% of advisers, and 52% in the UK, cannot see most client crypto holdings, largely due to restrictive or unclear firm policies.

According to CoinShares, 61% of advisers work in “blocked firms” that limit or fail to guide crypto engagement, driving unmanaged client exposure. Advisers cite regulatory recognition (45%) and access to crypto ETPs (43%) as the main catalysts that would increase their confidence to recommend digital assets.

News Market Reaction – CSHR

+1.96%

4 alerts

+1.96% Session close to close

$527.12M Market Cap

0.4x Rel. Volume

In the Jun 25 session, CSHR gained 1.96%, reflecting a mild positive market reaction. Our momentum scanner triggered 4 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility.

Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.

Market Context

This announcement highlights a sizeable visibility gap in European advisers’ crypto exposure, potent...

Analysis

This announcement highlights a sizeable visibility gap in European advisers’ crypto exposure, potentially underscoring long-term demand for regulated ETP solutions. With low reported short interest near 1.55%, key watchpoints are regulatory roll-out and execution on adviser adoption.

Key Figures

Advisers surveyed: 261 advisers High management gap advisers: 25% of advisers UK high-gap advisers: 52% in the UK +5 more

8 metrics

Advisers surveyed 261 advisers 2026 CoinShares survey across five European markets

High management gap advisers 25% of advisers Report a management gap above 50% of clients’ digital assets

UK high-gap advisers 52% in the UK UK advisers with management gap above 50% of client crypto exposure

Blocked firms share 61% of advisers Work at firms that restrict or give no guidance on digital assets

Supportive firm recommendation rate 48% to 1% Active recommendation share falls from supportive to restrictive policy firms

Regulatory recognition catalyst 45% of advisers Cite regulatory recognition as top confidence booster to recommend crypto

ETP access catalyst 43% of advisers View access to crypto ETPs as key to recommending digital assets

EU retail fund market €15tn Approximate size of Europe’s regulated retail fund market mentioned

Historical Context

5 past events · Latest: Jun 24 (Positive)

Pattern 5 events

Date	Event	Sentiment	24h Move	Catalyst
Jun 24	Award recognition	Positive	-6.8%	Finimize Awards 2026 named CoinShares Best Crypto Investment Product.
Jun 11	Industry listing	Positive	+7.8%	Inclusion in inaugural Fortune Crypto 100 for digital asset leadership.
May 28	Conference appearance	Positive	-4.0%	CEO participation in Piper Sandler Global Exchange & Fintech Conference panel.
May 19	Conference appearance	Positive	+0.9%	CEO speaking at Jefferies Digital Assets Investor Conference on infrastructure.
May 04	Product distribution	Positive	-5.6%	Launch of five crypto ETPs for French retail via Bourse Direct platform.

24h Move is the share-price change in the day after each event; other market factors may also have contributed.

Pattern Detected

Recent positive visibility and distribution news has often been met with mixed-to-negative next-day price reactions, indicating frequent divergence between headlines and trading.

Key Terms

etps, mica, ucits, assurance-vie, +2 more

6 terms

etps financial

"access to exchange-traded products (ETPs) (43%). Together they account"

ETPs are investment products that trade on stock exchanges like individual shares but represent exposure to a basket of assets, a commodity, a market index, or a debt note. They matter to investors because they offer easy, intraday access to diverse markets or specific themes—like buying a single slice of a larger pie—while carrying costs and risks (including tracking error and, for some types, issuer credit risk) that can affect returns.

mica regulatory

"The MiCA transition closes on 1 July 2026, establishing a single"

Mica is a naturally occurring group of minerals that split into thin, shiny sheets and is used as an insulating material and filler in products such as electronics, cosmetics, paints and construction materials. Investors care because mica is a key input whose supply, quality and price affect manufacturing costs and product performance, and because its mining and sourcing carry environmental and ethical risks that can impact company reputations and valuations—like a single critical ingredient changing a recipe’s outcome.

ucits regulatory

"the AMF has opened a review of which assets may qualify for UCITS funds"

UCITS is a European regulatory standard for pooled investment funds that sets common rules on how they are run, what they can invest in, and how they protect individual investors. Think of it like a certified recipe and passport for retail funds: it assures basic safeguards such as diversification, liquidity and clear reporting, which helps investors compare options, reduces risk of surprise practices, and makes funds easier to buy across borders.

assurance-vie financial

"any crypto ETP must pass to reach an assurance-vie wrapper or OPCVM mandate."

Assurance-vie is a life insurance contract commonly used as a combined savings and estate-planning tool: you pay premiums that are invested or held as savings and you name one or more beneficiaries to receive the proceeds on your death. It matters to investors because it offers a flexible way to build and access long‑term savings, choose different investment options, and pass assets with potentially favorable tax treatment and clear beneficiary rules—think of it as a labeled savings account that also acts like a will for the money.

opcvm financial

"must pass to reach an assurance-vie wrapper or OPCVM mandate."

A OPCVM is a regulated type of pooled investment fund (known in English as a UCITS) that lets many investors combine money to buy stocks, bonds and other securities under common rules and oversight. Think of it as a shared piggy bank run by professionals with clear limits and checks to protect savers; it matters because it offers built‑in diversification, liquidity and regulatory safeguards that make it easier and safer for investors to access a broad range of markets.

self-custody technical

"clients act alone, on exchanges and self-custody platforms their adviser has"

Self-custody means an investor holds and controls their own financial assets—such as stocks, bonds, or digital tokens—rather than leaving them with a broker, bank, or other third party. It matters because it gives the owner full control and direct access (like keeping cash in a personal safe instead of a bank vault), but also shifts all responsibility for security, backups, and recovery to the individual, affecting risk and liquidity.

AI-generated analysis. How Rhea-AI works. Not financial advice.

See more from StockTitan in Google Search and AI answers. Adds StockTitan as a preferred source · opens Google

Add on Google Not now

New CoinShares survey of 261 advisers across five markets finds that firm policy, not knowledge or client demand, determines whether crypto exposure is managed, or invisible 

---

JERSEY, Channel Islands — June 25 2026 — CoinShares PLC (Nasdaq: CSHR) ("CoinShares" or the "Company"), a leading global asset manager specialising in digital assets, today published the findings of a 2026 survey of 261 European wealth management professionals, conducted through Citywire Engage. The survey covers five markets: France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and reaches a single, structural conclusion: clients are already invested in digital assets, and for a large share of advisers, the majority of that exposure sits entirely outside their view.

The survey calls this the management gap: the share of a client's digital asset exposure that sits outside the adviser's oversight, unmonitored and invisible to the advisory relationship. One in four European advisers (25%) report a management gap above 50%: meaning the larger part of what their clients hold in digital assets is invisible to the person paid to manage it. In the United Kingdom, that figure reaches 52%.

This is not a forecast about future demand. It describes what already sits inside client portfolios today.

The conversation closes the gap; its absence widens it

The pattern holds without exception across all five adviser postures and all five markets: the less an adviser engages, the larger the gap. Among advisers who actively recommend digital assets, almost one in ten report a management gap above 50%, i.e. more than half of what the client holds in crypto is invisible to the adviser. Among advisers who feel insufficiently informed to advise, it is two in five: more than four times higher. Where the conversation happens, exposure converts into managed allocation. Where it cannot, clients act alone, on exchanges and self-custody platforms their adviser has never seen.

Eight percent of all advisers surveyed describe the problem in its most acute form: they report rising client interest and unmanaged exposure above 50% at the same time. These clients are already invested, outside the adviser's sight, and their positions are growing.

Firm policy is the cause, not knowledge, not appetite

The survey's central finding is that the management gap has one primary driver: firm policy. Sixty-one percent of advisers work in firms that either explicitly restrict digital assets or provide no clear internal guidance, what the report calls "blocked firms." This single variable shapes everything that follows.

Across the four policy levels measured, active recommendation falls from 48% in firms with clear support to 1% in firms that explicitly restrict. The management gap moves in the opposite direction over the same range: from 4% to 34%. Advisers in firms that support digital asset engagement are 4.5 times more likely to recommend than those in blocked firms, and the gap is 8.5 times larger in restricted firms than in supported ones. Engagement intent and client demand are consistent across every policy environment. What differs is whether the adviser is permitted to act.        

The knowledge gap follows the institutional one rather than causing it: more than three quarters of advisers who feel insufficiently informed work in blocked firms: advisers who were never trained because their firm never positioned itself to train them.

Jean-Marie Mognetti, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of CoinShares, said:

"The data is uncomfortable, so let us state it plainly. Across Europe, one in four wealth managers cannot see the majority of their clients' digital assets. In the UK, it is more than one in two. The capital has already been allocated. The people entrusted with managing it simply cannot see it, and in most cases not because clients are unwilling to engage, but because firm policy prevents them from doing so.

This is not a knowledge problem. It is not a demand problem. It is a firm-policy problem becoming a wrong-way risk.

Clients did not wait for permission. Every month a firm remains silent, more of its clients' wealth migrates beyond its advice, its visibility and ultimately its economics. The advisers who move first will not simply be adding another product to their platform. They will be rebuilding visibility over their clients' wealth.

Because visibility comes before advice. You cannot allocate, manage risk or earn trust over assets you cannot see. The firms that recognise this earliest will not just capture a new asset class, they will preserve the advisory relationship at the centre of their business at the dawn of the biggest generational wealth transfer in history."

 What advisers say would change it: recognition and access, not education

Asked directly what would most increase their confidence to recommend digital assets, advisers were clear. The two leading catalysts by a wide margin are regulatory recognition of digital assets as a mainstream asset class (45%) and access to exchange-traded products (ETPs) (43%). Together they account for the overwhelming majority of all catalyst selections. Client-facing educational tools rank joint last (9%), chosen least even by advisers who describe themselves as uninformed.

The signal is unambiguous: the constraint is structural, not individual. Both leading catalysts are conditions an adviser cannot create alone: they depend on regulators and product issuers. And for the first time, both are arriving. The MiCA transition closes on 1 July 2026, establishing a single regulated European market. In France, the AMF has opened a review of which assets may qualify for UCITS funds: the gate any crypto ETP must pass to reach an assurance-vie wrapper or OPCVM mandate. In the United Kingdom, the FCA has proposed allowing authorised funds to hold up to 10% in crypto ETPs. Digital assets remain a negligible share of Europe's ~€15tn regulated retail fund market, the gap between that near-zero starting point and growing investor demand is the opportunity. 

When advisers can engage, the gap nearly disappears

The survey points to what professional management restores. When advisers select an issuer, expertise and track record is the decisive criterion, cited by 73%, more than twice the weight of competitive fees, and ETPs are the preferred vehicle across all five markets. These are the same regulated, transparent, oversight-ready structures that allow volatility to be sized and monitored, and allow a digital asset position to be integrated into a client's wider financial plan, rather than left unmanaged on a personal exchange account.

It is the environment in which CoinShares has operated since 2013: a regulated asset manager with a long-track-record European ETP range, built for advisers and institutions who need digital asset exposure to sit inside the same professional framework as the rest of a client's portfolio. As recognition moves from proposal to rule over the next twelve to twenty-four months, the survey suggests the constraint will shift from permission to execution and the firms that take a position will see the gap narrow behind them.

About the survey

The findings draw on a structured questionnaire administered to 261 qualified wealth management professionals across France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United Kingdom in Q1 2026, commissioned by CoinShares and conducted through Citywire. All respondents are verified members of the Citywire Engage professional panel, with direct or indirect responsibility for client investment decisions — including financial advisers, discretionary investment managers, fund selectors, private bankers, family office professionals and investment consultants. The survey was administered online in each respondent's primary working language, using professionally translated questionnaires, and all responses were quality-filtered by Citywire before delivery. The full report is available at https://coinshares.com/insights/european-advisors-survey/

About CoinShares

CoinShares is a leading global asset manager specialising in digital assets, that delivers a broad range of financial services across investment management, trading and securities to a wide array of clients that includes corporations, financial institutions and individuals. Focusing on crypto since 2013, the firm is headquartered in Jersey, with offices in France, Switzerland, the UK and the US. CoinShares is regulated in Jersey by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, in France by the Autorité des marchés financiers, and in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Futures Association and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. CoinShares is publicly listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker CSHR. For more information on CoinShares, please visit:

https://coinshares.com

Contacts

Company | +44 (0)1534 513 100 | enquiries@coinshares.com
Investor Relations | +44 (0)1534 513 100 | corporateir@coinshares.com

Press Contact
CoinShares
Benoît Pellevoizin
bpellevoizin@coinshares.com

M Group Strategic
Communications
Peter Padovano
coinshares@mgroupsc.com

---

FAQ

What did CoinShares (Nasdaq: CSHR) find in its 2026 European wealth manager crypto survey?

CoinShares found many European wealth managers cannot see a large share of clients’ digital assets. According to CoinShares, 25% of advisers report a digital asset management gap above 50%, meaning most client crypto holdings sit outside their professional oversight and portfolio monitoring.

How big is the crypto management gap among UK advisers in CoinShares (CSHR) 2026 study?

In the UK, over half of advisers report that most client crypto exposure is unmanaged. According to CoinShares, 52% of UK wealth managers have a management gap above 50%, leaving the majority of clients’ digital asset holdings outside advised portfolios and traditional risk controls.

What drives the digital asset management gap in CoinShares (CSHR) 2026 adviser survey?

Firm policy is identified as the main driver of the crypto management gap. According to CoinShares, 61% of advisers are in “blocked firms” that restrict or lack guidance on digital assets, sharply reducing active recommendation and increasing the share of unmanaged client crypto exposure.

What would increase advisers’ confidence to recommend crypto, according to CoinShares (CSHR) 2026 report?

Advisers highlight structural changes, not more education, as key to recommending crypto. According to CoinShares, 45% cite regulatory recognition of digital assets and 43% cite access to exchange-traded products (ETPs) as leading catalysts, while client-facing educational tools rank joint last at 9%.

How could MiCA 2026 and new ETP rules affect advisers and CoinShares (CSHR)?

Upcoming regulation may enable more managed crypto exposure within traditional frameworks. According to CoinShares, the MiCA regime from July 1, 2026 and evolving UCITS and FCA rules on crypto ETPs could shift constraints from permission to execution, narrowing advisers’ digital asset management gaps.

What are “blocked firms” in CoinShares (CSHR) 2026 digital asset survey?

“Blocked firms” are advisory firms that restrict or give no clear guidance on digital assets. According to CoinShares, 61% of surveyed advisers work in such firms, where active recommendation of crypto is rare and unmanaged client exposure tends to be significantly higher than in supportive firms.