Acorns to Start Offering Customers Access to Bitcoin via ProShares ETF

Acorns, a U.S. fintech company that is best known as a micro-investing platform, announced Tuesday that it will allow its customers to use its mobile app to invest up to 5% of their portfolio in Bitcoin via an Exchange Traded-Fund.

The California-based financial services company said that it made such a move in response to increasing interest from users of cryptocurrency.

Acorns stated that it will provide Bitcoin exposure to its customers through the ProShares Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), which started trading in October as the first U.S. Bitcoin futures-based ETF.

Acorns mentioned that it will determine what percentage of a customer’s portfolio can be put in Bitcoin based on their investment profile, which includes income, age, and overall financial goals.

Noah Kerner, the CEO of Acorns, said that the percentage ranges from a ‘conservative’ 1% exposure to an ‘aggressive’ 5% exposure. “We’re really trying to drive home the philosophy of diversification and the principles of long-term investing,” the CEO elaborated.

Kerner further disclosed that about two-thirds of Acorns’ 4.6 million subscribers across the United States said they had not invested in cryptocurrency because of a lack of understanding of how digital currencies work, as well as the volatility associated with the asset class.

“Something like Bitcoin or any volatile asset class, it’s fine and sensible to have exposure to it, but it should be through the lens of a balanced portfolio,” Kerner said.

Encouraging Micro-Investing for Everyone

Launched in 2012, Acorns is a US micro-investing and robo-investing platform focused on getting low- and middle-income households to invest and save responsibly. Acorn’s platform has always been geared towards investing and saving with a more long-term strategy for everyday consumers.

In September last year, Acorns CEO told the CNBC media outlet that the platform was going to allow its users to customize their portfolios and add individual equities and cryptocurrency into a slice of their diversified portfolios.

In January, Acorns started developing a new feature that will let users choose their own investments for the first time. The expansion for Acorns into the new feature, called Customizable Portfolios (direct investing), will help the app to rival other mobile-first platforms like Robinhood Markets Inc and other popular online brokerage platforms such as E*Trade and Fidelity.

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