U.S. financial technology firm Acorns will allow customers to use its app to invest up to 5per cent of their portfolio in bitcoin via an exchange traded-fund, in response to increasing interest from users of cryptocurrency, the company said Tuesday.
Retail brokers and robo advisers including Robinhood Markets Inc, TD Ameritrade and Wealthfront have started to offer customers exposure to cryptocurrencies over the past several years either through direct trading or investment vehicles as popular interest in such digital assets has surged. [nL1N2RB1ZQ
That percentage ranges from a conservative 1per cent exposure to an “aggressive” 5per cent exposure, Acorns' chief executive officer, Noah Kerner, said in an interview. Kerner added that about two-thirds of Acorns’ 4.6 million subscribers across the United States said they had not invested in crypto because of a lack of understanding as to how digital currencies work, as well as the volatility associated with the asset class.