The platform will allow financial and wealth advisors to offer clients exposure to crypto in their own segregated accounts.One River—the crypto investment firm backed by Alan Howard—is teaming up with Coinbase to offer a platform that would allow wealth managers to offer crypto exposure to their clients.
As per a press release shared Friday, One River will offer wealth managers access to One Digital SMA. An SMA allows a wealth manager to offer strategies from an outside investment firm through individual client accounts. The idea is to make it easier for registered investment advisors to offer crypto exposure to their clients in the same way they offer exposure in bonds, stocks, and mutual funds via a portfolio.
"The ability to offer Separately Managed Accounts' through RIA channels is a critical way for a broader cross-section of the investing public to gain exposure to crypto investing," commented Greg Tusar, head of institutional products at Coinbase. Coinbase's institutional unit powers the new platform.
Wealth and financial advisors are becoming increasingly interested in the digital asset space, with the number of financial advisors allocating to crypto in client portfolios increasing from 6.3% in 2020 to 9.4% last year, according to Bitwise. "Registered investment advisors and private wealth platforms have been asking for best-in-class digital market access, research perspectives, and investment opportunities," One River noted in a press release.