Betterment’s Customers Can Explore Passive Crypto Investing with Latest Acquisition

Betterment, one of the largest Robo-Advisors in the US, recently announced its acquisition of Makara. The purchase of the Seattle-based crypto startup will see customers and finance experts offered a platform to invest directly in crypto passively alongside other traditional investments. This move shows a continued interest in crypto by traditional investing firms.

Speaking about the new development, Betterments CEO Sarah Levy believes the agreement will see her company keep to its promise of long-term diversification. She added that customers would enjoy the best variety of assets within the marketplace and that “crypto is here to stay.”

Betterment’s Clients to Get Direct Access to Crypto

Betterment is one of the biggest independent investment advisors with $32 billion in assets under management (AUM) and nearly 700,000 clients. With Makara integrated into the Betterment platform, their clients would now have direct access to crypto.

Once the acquisition is finalized later this quarter, Makara’s engineering and crypto team will join Betterment. The Seattle-based company makes investing in crypto easy by creating thematic baskets and following a passive investing model, in line with Betterment’s offering for traditional assets.

Jesse Proudman, Makara’s Co-Founder and CEO, tweeted about the merger claiming that the combination of both companies would create a formidable platform.

Proudman further revealed that he had his most challenging year in his 25-year entrepreneurial career in the initial stages of building Makara. The company is an offspring of Strix Leviathan, a cryptocurrency trading and management solution for businesses and institutions. It launched in May 2021.

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Younger Investors Prefer Robo-Advisors

Robo-advisors recently made a splash in the investment world, and are quickly becoming the go-to for younger investors. While the pandemic was in full swing, the younger population employed the service of Robo- advisors to manage their portfolios.

According to US News, Robo advisors managed more than $224 billion in total assets as of 2018, with that figure predicted to rise to more than $400 billion by 2022. 

These young investors are set to benefit even more, as Betterment, one of the most prominent Robo advisor firms, makes a foray into cryptocurrency. They would now have the opportunity to invest in a whole new asset class with high volatility in a regulatory compliant environment.

Do you think investors will benefit from having access to investing in digital assets through Betterment’s new acquisition? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.