RIAs will have access to a one-stop solution for entering the cryptocurrency market through a partnership between two cryptocurrency firms, the firms announced today.
Blockchange, a digital asset investing platform for professional wealth managers, and Gemini Trust Co., a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian, will enable RIAs to buy, sell and store digital assets.
The new platform, which the firms said is the first of its kind in the financial industry, uses Blockchange’s Bitria Digital, a turnkey asset management platform, and Gemini’s exchange and custody solution to create an institutional-grade option for RIAs who want to expose their clients to digital assets for improved returns and risk mitigation, the firms said in a press release announcing the platform.
The first firm to sign on to the platform also was announced. Quantum Capital Management, a wealth management firm with more than $125 million in AUM based in Northfield, N.J., will use the platform to provide investments in digital assets for its clients, and also to offer digital asset management services to other RIAs using a separately managed account approach.
“This will enable firms with little to no knowledge of the digital asset ecosystem to participate with confidence, ultimately accelerating adoption of the asset class,” Blockchange and Gemini said.
“The risk-adjusted returns and growth potential of digital assets are too significant to ignore, and we consider a small allocation important to fulfill our fiduciary responsibility to clients,” Howard Aschwald, chief investment officer of Quantum, said in a statement. “The Blockchange-Gemini solution allows us to implement, at scale, our digital asset management strategy, [which] improves liquidity and [gives] control over risk management.”
“The Blockchange-Gemini solution will allow RIAs to actively and securely manage digital assets across their entire client base or within individual client portfolios. It offers a variety of benefits that differentiate it from digital hedge funds and index funds, including deeper customization and flexibility, superior tax benefits, and ownership of the underlying assets, which is critical in the digital asset ecosystem,” Blockchange-Gemini said.
"The undeniable institutional adoption of digital assets we’re seeing is not just because of gains in the market, but also because companies like Gemini and Blockchange have adopted the same security frameworks as banks. Building solutions with the needs of wealth advisors and other institutional professionals in mind paves the way for more investors to get involved in the powerful network of digital assets," said Noah Perlman, chief operating officer at Gemini, said in a statement.