M1 Finance is about to launch its crypto trading accounts and trading services, the firm said in an official statement on 11th July.
The reason for the addition of this asset class is quite contradicting the popular perception that the excitement for crypto may be undergoing a decline, given the current market conditions. Brian Barnes, CEO of M1, pointed out that strong customer demand was the primary reason for the integration of cryptocurrencies onto their platform.
More About M1 Finance
The Chicago-based firm has been operational since 2015 and has more than $5 Billion worth of assets under management. They offer commission-free stock trading, exchange-traded funds and retirement accounts as part of their services.
Brian Barnes said that “The crypto market is still young and volatile; Bitcoin emerged just 13 years ago.” And while that is the case, the adoption of cryptocurrencies has been very prevalent in America. With over 20% of Americans being involved in it one way or the other.
Features of the Platform
This addition will enable the current users of the platform to add cryptos to their portfolio & make it a part of their investment strategy.
The platform has a feature where users can create custom and expert-built crypto Pies to help them plan & track their financial goals. Essentially under this, a portfolio is represented as a pie, with each asset displaying its exposure in percentage terms. An algorithmic software balances out the proportion depending on the investor’s investment strategy or asset distribution. Additionally, the company also has its own pies, providing exposure to stocks for passive investments.
“Create a crypto portfolio that fits your financial goals and risk tolerance. You can build custom crypto Pies or use Expert Pies, which are pre-built using thematic strategies such as DeFi, Web3, and large-cap crypto,” read the official blog.
This Pie-investing will also be available for the new crypto accounts.
The firm will support ten cryptocurrencies initially, including Bitcoin, Ether, and other large-cap coins. The firm also stated that it’ll expand the offerings in the future, and crypto trading will be commission-free.
In the official blog, referencing the future of crypto, the firm mentioned, “Crypto is capturing more mindshare as it becomes mainstream. While many retail, professional, and institutional investors are increasingly deploying capital to crypto, other highly intelligent capital allocators are ignoring crypto altogether.”
“After months of developing Crypto Accounts, we’re eager to see how our clients decide to integrate it into their portfolios. Soon, clients will be able to allocate capital to cryptocurrencies according to their risk tolerance and use automation to make sure their targets stay on track.”
Finally, the CEO stated that the firm isn’t directing people to start crypto trading. And the only reason for them to introduce crypto was the demand from more than half of their survey participants demanding crypto to be made available on the platform.
It’ll be exciting to see how this integration is received, as this isn’t exactly the best time to introduce a new crypto product. Bitcoin is down more than 70% from its all-time high. The entire crypto market has been following a bearish trend for almost the entirety of this year as well.
