Ric Edelman.
The RIA Digital Assets Council, founded by Ric Edelman, has acquired JV Events Group, which owned the Digital Asset Strategy Summit. JV's founder and CEO, Don Friedman, who's also co-founder of Inside ETFs, has become the council's president.
The acquisition establishes the council as the "go-to" source for financial advisors interested in learning about blockchain and digital assets such as Bitcoin, according to Edelman, who's also the founder of Edelman Financial Engines.
Before forming JVEG, Friedman co-founded Inside ETFs, the world's largest ETF conference.
"It's clear that blockchain and digital assets are not going away," Edelman told ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday in an interview. "They are fast becoming mainstream, both in commerce and in the financial markets. As a result, financial advisors need to begin to understand how to incorporate these new asset classes into client portfolios."
The company has also launched a new website and plans to hold its first virtual conference, RIADAC Vision, on March 4, 2021.
Edelman said RIADAC will also launch a certification program in the first quarter. "We've given presentations to thousands of financial advisors over the past several years" regarding cryptocurrency, "and we're about to dramatically increase our activities" with the new events and certification program.
"My role is to really run the day-to-day business as well as have an eye on what the plans will be moving forward," Friedman said in the interview.
