New Delhi, May 3 -- Shortly after Charles Schwab announced in April that it would soon allow investors to trade crypto directly on its platform, financial advisor Jeff Judge received a question from a 68-year-old client who had always dismissed Bitcoin: Was he "missing something?" the client asked Judge.

The client ended up investing $125,000-some 5% of his $2.5 million portfolio-in a crypto exchanged-traded fund (ETF).

"Institutional credibility moved the needle in a way that price performance never did," said Judge, managing partner at Chesapeake Financial Planners in the Baltimore area. "When Fidelity, BlackRock and now Schwab put their name on it, older investors interpret that as a green light, or at least a sign they should ask th...