Robo-adviser Wealthfront with $25 billion in assets opens client access to Grayscale funds

The American robo-adviser Wealthfront, with $25 billion in assets, expanded its range of services by giving clients access to Grayscale Investments’ cryptocurrency funds.

You can now have exposure to cryptocurrency right in your Wealthfront portfolio. Read more on our blog. https://t.co/pRLbzlUvku

— Wealthfront (@Wealthfront) July 29, 2021

Wealthfront clients can add shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to their portfolios. The firm noted that cryptocurrencies are more volatile than most ETFs, so investing in the trusts is permitted up to 10% of a user’s total assets.

Wealthfront’s automated features apply to portfolios containing cryptocurrencies, including “smart dividend reinvestment” and “tax-loss harvesting” (tax-loss harvesting).

Plans for Wealthfront to open client access to the digital asset market were disclosed in April. At that time, the company’s co-founder Dan Carroll told Reuters that the robo-adviser would set a limit at 20% of the user’s total portfolio value.

Grayscale Investments manages assets of $34.7 billion. Its largest fund is the Bitcoin Trust, valued at $25.94 billion. The ETHE total is $7.26 billion.

07/29/21 UPDATE: Net Assets Under Management, Holdings per Share, and Market Price per Share for our Investment Products.

Total AUM: $34.7 billion$BTC $BAT $BCH $LINK $MANA $ETH $ETC $FIL $ZEN $LTC $LPT $XLM $ZEC $UNI $AAVE $COMP $CRV $MKR $SUSHI $SNX $YFI $UMA $BNT $ADA pic.twitter.com/5R63gk6ABj

— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 29, 2021

Earlier, the asset manager signed an agreement with Bank of New York Mellon under which the financial holding company will become the custodian of GBTC. It will also serve as transfer agent and will take on ETF servicing after the trust is converted into an exchange-traded fund.

Earlier in July, Grayscale Investments unveiled a new investment product, consisting of components of the CoinDesk DeFi Index in the decentralized finance space.