Circle is going after fresh entrants to the cryptocurrency trading market with a new tool that allows them to invest in multiple coins as once. This feature is different than an index fund in a few crucial ways, perhaps most importantly being available to everyday investors not just the rich and trading professionals.
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Buy the Market
Circle Internet Financial Ltd., the Goldman Sachs-backed Boston-headquartered company that acquired Poloniex earlier this year, has announced a new feature on Tuesday called “Buy the Market.” It allows users to buy seven assets at once including BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, LTC, ZEC and XMR. Aiming for simplicity, all a user has to do to create a crypto portfolio with this feature is to enter the amount of USD they want to invest and the app will automatically calculate and distribute the investment sum according to each asset’s market cap.
This type of automatic or passive management investment tool will most likely be compared to existing crypto index funds. However, it is different in a few ways as it is just a technical feature allowing to buy a number of assets at once with one click not a real fund. These include no management fees, no re-balancing when market caps change, and a very accessible minimum investment sum of just $1.
Better Than Crypto Index Funds?
When comparing to crypto index funds such as those offered by Coinbase or Bitwise, the first thing to pop out is that the new Circle feature is available to all its normal users, not just to so called accredited investors. To be considered an accredited investor in the US, an individual must first report to the SEC that they have a net worth of at least $1,000,000 excluding the value of their primary residence or have a yearly income of at least $200,000. And companies need to have total assets in excess of $5 million or be recognized as a bank, insurance company, business development company, or registered investment company.
Circle’s Rachel Mayer commented: “This is one of the first experiences of its kind for consumers. Other crypto products that allow you to invest in market weight distributed fashion are accompanied by high minimums and 3% management fees. Circle Invest removes all this friction, making investing in multiple coins at once available for anyone at the same competitive pricing we deliver on all of our coins.”
Only last week Circle announced it had raised $110 million in a Series E fundraising round led by the Chinese firm Bitmain Technologies. It now looks it intends to use this money to expand its services in more ways than just issuing a new Tether alternative, like challenging index fund providers.
Would you prefer using such a feature over investing in a crypto index fund? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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