Advisor recommendations to buy crypto have nearly doubled since 2023
The Ontario Securities Commission has published the third wave of its crypto asset survey, and the headline number for advisors is a market that has swung sharply toward their clients: one in four Canadians now hold crypto assets or crypto funds, up from one in 10 in 2023.
Ownership climbed to 25 percent while 59 percent of Canadians said they were aware of crypto assets.
For the advice channel, the more striking shift is how far crypto has moved into client conversations.
Among investors who work with a financial advisor, 39 percent said their advisor recommended they purchase crypto assets, according to the survey, nearly double the 19 percent recorded in 2023.
The regulator also found that 22 percent of crypto owners sought information from a financial advisor before buying, up from 13 percent two years earlier.
Where advisors did recommend crypto, the OSC said the guidance was typically to allocate a small portion of the portfolio, 10 percent or less.
Crypto markets keep evolving and "Canadians are participating in them more than ever before," said Naizam Kanji, executive vice president of strategic regulation at the OSC.
Research lets the commission "look around corners" on emerging trends, Kanji said, and set an approach that supports investor protection alongside fair, efficient markets.
The survey pointed to some improvement in investor practices alongside the growth.
Half of crypto owners reported checking whether their trading platform is registered before using it, the OSC said, up from 38 percent in 2023.
Working knowledge nonetheless stayed thin: many respondents held misunderstandings about how crypto assets are regulated, whether they are insured, and how transactions work, according to the commission.
Sentiment about crypto's place in the financial system has firmed.
More than half of Canadians aware of crypto, 52 percent, now believe the assets will play a key role in the country's financial ecosystem in the future, the survey found, up from 34 percent in 2023.
Belief that crypto already plays a key role rose to 43 percent from 26 percent.
Purchase intentions moved in step, with 38 percent of those aware of crypto indicating they were highly likely to buy, an 18 percentage point jump since the last wave.
Newer product categories registered lower awareness.
One-third of Canadians (34 percent) had heard of stablecoins and one-quarter (24 percent) had heard of tokenized real-world asset tokens.
Interest ran higher than uptake among those familiar: 74 percent of respondents aware of RWA tokens said they would consider buying them if their main bank or investment firm offered the products.
The commission noted that confidence in crypto's role has grown while trust in traditional institutions held steady, with the majority still reporting high confidence in banks and the Bank of Canada.
