Wealthfront introduces cryptocurrency in its portfolio

By Pavithra R

Wealthfront, a nextgen banking service provider, has announced expanding its menu of investments to include more options, including two cryptocurrency trusts: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE). 

The firm touts to be the first service that makes it possible to gain exposure to cryptocurrency as part of a diversified portfolio with automation features like tax-sensitive rebalancing, intelligent dividend reinvestment, and its Tax-Loss Harvesting, which takes advantage of market volatility to lower taxes whenever there’s a suitable alternative available. 

“Buying cryptocurrency can feel intimidating — it takes time and effort to research all of the options, set up a wallet, and monitor an additional account. That’s why we’ve made it easy to get exposure to Bitcoin and Ethereum right in your Wealthfront portfolio, no wallets required. Instead of buying coins yourself, you can invest in GBTC and ETHE,” mentioned Wealthfront in its blog.

Users can add GBTC and/or ETHE to their portfolio by following a set of instructions and can select a combined allocation of up to 10% of their total portfolio. Wealthfront’s automation takes the chore out of managing users portfolios and works to maximize after-tax returns at no extra cost. The firm makes the trades and rebalance investments to ensure users allocation does not drift too far over time.

Established in 2011, Wealthfront provides an automated investment management platform that allows investors to create and manages personalized, globally diversified investment portfolios at a lower cost. The firm helps users manage their money for both short-term and long-term goals by providing a Cash Account with checking features and high interest, automated investment management, and free financial advice. The FinTech company provides no-fee banking and low-cost investment management through its mobile app. The firm plans to offer specially curated portfolios for clients interested in socially responsible investing in the future.