As bonds sink and Bitcoin soars, the traditional 60/40 investment strategy, 60% stocks, 40% bonds, is showing its age. Abra CEO Bill Barhydt says it’s time for something new. And that something, he believes, is crypto.
In a recent interview with Bitcoin.com News, Barhydt explained why financial advisors are starting to shift away from bonds and towards digital assets, signaling a major change in how wealth is being managed.
It’s no secret that bonds have underperformed in recent years. Bloomberg’s U.S. Aggregate Bond Index returned just 1.25% in 2024, and over the past five years, it’s actually gone negative, down 0.05%.
“The ‘40’ in 60/40 isn’t working,” Barhydt said, referring to the bond portion of the traditional model. He sees crypto as a better hedge against inflation and market swings, something that more advisors are starting to recognize. That shift in thinking is breaking long-held rules about portfolio diversification.
Barhydt recently attended the 7th Annual Vision Conference in Arlington, Texas, hosted by the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals (DACFP). The event drew hundreds of financial advisors and the attitude toward crypto was very different from what he saw a few years ago.
“Five years ago, people thought crypto was just magic Internet money,” he said. “Now, advisors want to offer it to their clients.”
DACFP founder and longtime financial expert Ric Edelman didn’t hold back either. During the event, he told attendees, “The 60/40 model is dead.” His recommendation? A new model that puts 70% to 100% of a portfolio into stocks and crypto, with bonds making up no more than 30% and in some cases, none at all.
Abra didn’t start out as a crypto wealth platform. It began as a Bitcoin remittance app, helping people send money using crypto. But under Barhydt’s leadership, it evolved. Today, Abra offers spot trading, lending, borrowing, and yield services – all designed for investors who want exposure to digital assets.
Barhydt’s background is just as varied – he’s worked at the CIA, NASA, Netscape, and Goldman Sachs. Now, he’s focused on helping advisors tap into crypto in a smarter, more strategic way.
Barhydt emphasized that “Bitcoin presents the best financial chance of our era.”
With bonds losing their appeal and Bitcoin hitting record highs, more financial advisors are exploring crypto as a serious part of their strategy. Abra wants to be the platform they turn to as this shift continues.
The message from Barhydt and Edelman is clear: The old rules no longer apply. Crypto is no longer a fringe bet – it’s becoming a core part of the modern investment portfolio.
The shift replaces the underperforming bond portion of strategies like 60/40 with crypto, aiming for better hedges against inflation and market swings, making digital assets a core portfolio component.
Tokenizing real-world assets like real estate and art unlocks liquidity, enables fractional ownership, reduces costs, and enhances transparency, potentially leading to a $1 to $4 trillion market by 2030.
Financial advisors’ attitudes have shifted from skepticism to recognizing crypto’s importance, driven by client interest, new crypto ETFs, and a more favorable regulatory outlook, leading them to incorporate it into client portfolios.
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