Ric Edelman Still Backs Up to 40% Crypto as Bitcoin Tests $90K: Treat It Like a Core Risk Asset

Investors keep asking whether the latest pullback is a buy. Ric Edelman is answering a different question: how big should crypto be in a portfolio that treats Bitcoin like any other core risk asset?

In June, Edelman published a white paper recommending 10% crypto for conservative investors and up to 40% for aggressive ones—far beyond the “low single-digits” stance he held previously. He says the shift reflects dramatically clearer regulation and deeper institutional engagement. That framing matters more than the dip itself.

Here’s the crux: allocation is a risk-budget decision, not a headline-chasing one. If Bitcoin sits alongside equities in a strategic sleeve, the playbook is familiar—size the position, accept cyclicality, and rebalance through drawdowns. Edelman’s comments fit that discipline. With BTC sliding under $90,000 into the weekend—after trading near $100,000 to $125,000 earlier—he argues the same way advisors do in equity selloffs: long-term investors often benefit from buying weakness. We’ve seen 20%-30% declines in the S&P 500; crypto’s version of that should not surprise anyone managing volatility.

Context for why a higher allocation is plausible has strengthened. Since his paper, Bitcoin surged more than 32% over 10 weeks to fresh highs amid a friendlier policy environment under the Trump administration, the rapid buildout of spot Bitcoin ETFs, and corporate treasuries accumulating BTC. The market then struggled to hold $90,000, briefly touching $81,000 in November as macro stress hit risk assets and early whales reportedly took profits. Edelman reads that behavior as routine, not structural.

The infrastructure now supports bigger sizing without bespoke tooling. ETFs like BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) have become primary on-ramps for advisors and institutions; Harvard University recently disclosed a $116 million IBIT position. This is the kind of plumbing—daily creations/redemptions, transparent NAVs, institutional custody—that lets rebalancing work in practice. When an asset can be bought, sized, and reported via mainstream vehicles, higher target weights stop being theoretical.

Traditional finance is paying attention. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas called Edelman’s call the most consequential TradFi endorsement of crypto since Larry Fink’s public pivot, noting Edelman’s reach—roughly $300 billion managed for 1.3 million clients and frequent top rankings on Barron’s advisor lists. That audience lives on glidepaths and policy statements; adopting a 10%-40% band signals crypto has graduated from “satellite trade” to strategic allocation for some.

None of this negates risk. A 40% crypto sleeve requires real governance: volatility caps, drawdown triggers, and disciplined rebalancing. It challenges age-based heuristics too. Edelman argues even 90-year-olds can own digital assets if the risk fit is right. Framed correctly, that aligns with modern fiduciary practice—objectives and tolerance first, birthdate second—but it demands clear client education about concentration and liquidity.

Edelman also projects a $19 trillion Bitcoin market cap over time—roughly a 955% increase from around $1.8 trillion at the time of his analysis. Investors can disagree on that path, yet the broader point holds: Bitcoin is being priced and traded like a mainstream risk asset. Its sensitivity to macro and its correlation during stress look less like a bug and more like the cost of admission to institutional portfolios.

So the more interesting takeaway isn’t “buy the dip.” It’s whether you accept that Bitcoin belongs in the strategic core and then size it accordingly. If you do, you stop waiting for perfect entry points, you embrace the rebalancing math, and you let the improved market structure and widening Fortune 500 adoption do the heavy lifting over multi-year horizons.