Crypto platform Gemini is buying separately managed account and digital turnkey asset management platform BITRIA, first reported by CNBC. This acquisition expands Gemini’s wealth management-focused crypto capabilities, as well as puts the firm in competition with its own partners, Onramp Invest and Eaglebrook Advisors. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but all BITRIA employees will move to Gemini.
Following the acquisition, Gemini will have the ability to create and maintain separately managed crypto accounts, engage in portfolio rebalancing and tax loss harvesting, billing and fee collection on those accounts, and allow its users to trade more than 70 cryptocurrencies on its platform. Will provide connectivity. According to the announcement.
“The BITRIA acquisition positions Gemini as the first end-to-end technology platform, empowering wealth and asset managers to access and manage a full range of crypto investments to meet the growing demand among their clients. creates,” said Dave Abner, Gemini’s global head of business development, in a statement.
Certainly, many of BITRIA’s capabilities are already available among its competitors. Onramp and Eaglebrook both provide advisors with data connectivity, trading and portfolio management – as well as partnerships with Gemini. Eaglebrook has its own onboarding capabilities and tax loss harvesting.
Since last year, both Dynasty Financial Partners and Mariner Wealth Advisors have used Eaglebrook to provide crypto separately managed accounts to advisors and their clients.
But the popularity and demand for such services is not entirely clear. Dynasty confirmed that it had over 40 advisors on Eaglebrook, but declined to explain how many crypto assets are being managed on the platform; Mariner declined to provide how many of its advisors use the platform and the assets held by those advisors.
Gemini began working with BITRIA, then called Blockchain, in August 2020, when the two announced an RIA-focused “secure one-stop-shop for buying, selling and storing digital assets.”
At the time of the announcement, Quantum Capital Management, with over $125 million in AUM, was offered as an initial RIA client. Quantum Capital Management was eventually purchased by Los Angeles-based Lido Advisors. Lido manages $7.7 billion in assets, but did not immediately confirm whether its advisors still use BITRIA.
BITRIA, which was founded in 2017, declined to say how many advisors use its platform.
“The future of wealth management lies in digital assets and blockchain technology,” Daniel Eyre, co-founder and CEO of BITRIA, said in a statement. “The integration of BITRIA’s technology with Gemini provides a bridge to that future.”
