Continuing education in cryptoassets.

Welcome {{first_name | fellow crypto curious and trusted fiduciary}}!

On average, advisers offer seven services, 4.5 of which are financial planning services and 2.5 of which are advanced planning services. - Cerulli Associates

Recently our CEO, Tyrone Ross, shared this statistic from Cerulli. But the real question remains: How do you confidently deliver financial planning in an asset class with fewer than 20 years of track record and a lack of accurate, reliable data?

Running a wealth management firm demands compliance clarity, operational resilience, and adviser productivity.

Advisers are now accountable for crypto exposure, yet the industry has offered no reliable foundation for managing it.

We are led to believe that financial planning fees will continue to trend up and to the right. If that is true, the advisers who generate the most revenue will be those operating at the intersection of traditional finance and crypto, achieving comprehensive financial planning.

What we’re seeing

Crypto is moving through a familiar but often misunderstood phase: price volatility paired with accelerating institutional and regulatory buildout. While markets remain choppy, the underlying rails, custody, settlement, compliance, and bank connectivity are strengthening quietly. This is what post-speculative resets look like: excess clears, serious capital stays, and infrastructure compounds. For advisers, the signal isn’t in short-term price action, but in how rapidly crypto is becoming part of the financial system advisers already operate within.

What the data and market structure are telling us

Market behavior continues to challenge the narrative that crypto is uniquely unstable. Since the iShares Bitcoin ETF ($IBIT) began trading, returns have been heavily skewed by when exposure was held. Investors who only owned IBIT overnight buying the close and selling the next open are up roughly 222%, while those who only held intraday are down 40.5%. Market structure matters more than slogans about manipulation.

Traditional markets are also moving closer to crypto’s operating model. NASDAQ has announced plans to move toward 24/7 trading, with weekday round-the-clock access expected as early as Q2. Continuous markets are no longer a crypto-only concept.

Institutional signals remain constructive beneath the surface. Tokenized cash products are gaining traction, highlighted by JPMorgan Asset Management’s launch of its first tokenized money market fund. This isn’t about risk assets, it’s about modernizing how cash, collateral, and settlement work.

Crypto is also one of the only major asset classes still down heading into year-end. That sets up the potential for aggressive tax-loss harvesting pressure into December, particularly from advisers and institutions managing realized gains elsewhere. If history is any guide, this kind of selling can be sharp, mechanical, and disconnected from fundamentals creating short-term downside that often resolves once the calendar turns.

What changed and what it means for you

Tracking cost basis is the risk most advisers are underestimating

Crypto doesn’t break portfolios first, it breaks reporting.

Effective January 1, 2025, taxpayers are required to track cryptoassets on a per-wallet or per-account cost basis. At the same time, brokers are now obligated to issue Form 1099-DA, reporting gross proceeds only, not cost basis. That distinction matters more than most advisers realize. Gross proceeds without cost basis is not clarity. It’s exposure.

Now layer in how clients actually behave. Wallet sprawl is common. Transfers between wallets reset visibility. DeFi activity fragments tax lots across protocols that issue no 1099s. Even a “simple” DeFi user, touching one or two platforms can generate dozens of taxable events. A single yield or lending strategy can involve roughly 17 onchain interactions, each creating small, reportable transactions that ultimately land on Form 8949.

Prediction markets like Polymarket add another layer of complexity. Depending on interpretation, activity can be treated as capital assets, gambling income, or less likely Section 1256 contracts. The IRS has not issued specific guidance. Misclassification, missing cost basis, or incomplete records can result in material tax liabilities and penalties for clients and difficult conversations for advisers.

The takeaway is straightforward: if you don’t control cost basis, you don’t control risk. You leave your client susceptible exorbitant tax payments or potential large tax penalties.

For RIAs, this means initiating proactive conversations about wallet usage, asset location, DeFi participation, and tax reporting before allocations grow. It also means acknowledging that traditional CRM and PMS systems were not built for onchain activity and pretending otherwise creates blind spots.

What advisers are missing about volatility, taxes, and client expectations

In a recent Yahoo interview, Tyrone addressed one of the most common misconceptions advisers still encounter in crypto. Many assume tax strategy works the same way it does for traditional assets, without understanding where crypto is similar and where it is materially different.

One critical distinction is tax loss harvesting. Unlike stocks, crypto currently has no wash sale rule. That means investors can realize a loss and re-enter the position immediately. However, Tyrone emphasized that this is not the end of the story. The economic substance doctrine still applies. Repeated buy and sell activity without a material economic purpose can trigger penalties. The opportunity exists, but it requires discipline, documentation, and intent.

This matters even more heading into 2026. All major exchanges will be required to issue Form 1099-DA, reporting gross proceeds. Cost basis will not be fully reported until later. That puts the burden squarely on investors and advisers to maintain accurate records across wallets, exchanges, and transfers. Wallet hygiene is no longer optional. It is a prerequisite for defensible reporting.

Tyrone also addressed client expectations directly. Volatility is not a flaw in crypto. It is part of the design. Investors do not get to opt out of the downside after buying the ticket. The asset class is still young, closer to a volatile teenager than a mature market, and it demands a longer time horizon. Tyrone’s guidance is consistent. Crypto allocations should be made with at least a five year view, not a Thanksgiving to Thanksgiving one.

For advisers, the lesson is clear. Crypto forces sharper conversations about volatility, taxes, and behavior. Firms that prepare clients for those realities build trust. Firms that avoid them create problems later.

What to focus on next

As we look ahead, the edge for advisers won’t come from predicting price, it will come from fluency. Wallets, exchanges, tokenized funds, DeFi yield, tax lots, and onchain activity are becoming common financial grammar. Advisers who understand the mechanics will outperform those who rely on wrappers and headlines.

Crypto in the next cycle will feel less euphoric and more structural. That’s a good thing.

In order to thrive in this environment your practice should include full-stack crypto portfolio analytics, compliant tax reporting, tax-loss harvesting automation, and data connectivity in your existing workflows.

{{first_name | At Turnqey}}, we believe the cryptoasset market will continue to evolve. Headlines will continue to rotate. Policies will change. The last month of news has proven that crypto is moving from mass acceptance to mass adoption, driven by the following:

Our goal with this newsletter is to keep you informed and ahead of industry peers regarding all of the above. We appreciate you reading and look forward to an abundant year of opportunity in 2026. Happy Holidays from the Turnqey team!

Educate before you allocate. Make it Turnqey.

With gratitude,

The Turnqey Team

A pebble a day moves a mountain.

P.S. What topics should we cover next week? Reply to this email, we read every response.