Ritholtz Wealth Management and WisdomTree Investments have teamed up to launch the RWM WisdomTree Crypto index.
The index, which be 36% bitcoin, 20% ethereum and 4% each in 11 other crypto-related assets, will be made available to advisors via SMAs.
The New York-based RIA, which is led by chairman Barry Ritholtz and CEO Josh Brown, has teamed up with three firms to produce the strategy.
The first of these is Wisdom Tree, with which it collaborated to built the index. The second is Gemini Trust, a cryptocurrency exchange and custodian founded by twin brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The third is OnRamp, a cryptocurrency technology platform aimed at RIAs who clients want access to these assets.
The index is currently only available to Ritholtz clients via SMAs on Gemini, with OnRamp planning to make it more widely available in the near future, according to a blog post by Ritholtz director of research Michael Batnick.
Barry Ritholtz, in another online post about the new index strategy, couched the product as useful in an environment otherwise lacking an ‘easy, inexpensive RIA-specific diversified crypto solution.’
‘“Find a simple, inexpensive, secure solution” became the driver here, and I believe we have accomplished just that,’ Ritholtz wrote.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved a handful of bitcoin futures ETFs from ProShares, Valkyrie and VanEck but has rejected a spot bitcoin ETF application from VanEck.
Despite the SEC’s stance, there would appear to be widespread demand for bitcoin and other crypto-focused ETFs, forcing firms to find new ways to offer such strategies.
In the face of the SEC’s refusal to sanction a bitcoin ETF, Fidelity has launched such a fund in Canada.
The Fidelity Advance Bitcoin ETF began trading on Thursday.
Citywire Canada previously reported that the asset manager’s Canadian branch had launched the country’s first institutional custody service for cryptocurrency and had filed to launch said ETF.
Fidelity, in its public statements about the new product, has marketed it as a simpler option for investors who are unfamiliar with digital wallets or online cryptocurrency exchanges.
