Flourish Begins Offering a Bitcoin Investment Option to RIAs

Flourish – a Fintech platform geared towards Financial Advisors – has started a digital asset initiative called “Flourish Crypto.” The platform will offer accessible Bitcoin investment options to RIAs, equipped with advisor-specific compliance resources.

Crypto Solutions for Investment Advisors

According to a press release from GlobeNewswire, Flourish Crypto will include access to direct cryptocurrency ownership. Clients will be able to trade Bitcoin online at any time at a $100 minimum. The largest digital asset appears to be the only option the organization will offer at this time.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin bought through the platform’s accounts will be held in custody by Paxos Trust Company, which is a regulated crypto custodian. Paxos recently launched a similar partnership with Interactive Brokers Group (Nasdaq: IBKR) to provide crypto trading and custody services to their clients.

Flourish Crypto will deeply integrate into the rest of the company’s existing RIA ecosystem. This includes integrations with eMoney Advisor, Orion, and Envestnet | Tamarac. With this, crypto investments can be billed and reported on like any other asset.

Advisors in Need of Crypto Knowledge

Ben Cruikshank – Head of Flourish – said that the new initiative will help meet the advisor’s growing demand for cryptocurrency investment knowledge.

“We’ve heard from countless advisors that they are fielding questions about crypto on a daily basis—and that they don’t have the right solutions to meet this growing client demand or to compete with offerings from retail trading platforms and wirehouses”.

Cruikshank believes Flourish Crypto will allow advisors to keep crypto-assets “within their orbit” and provide tailored digital asset solutions for specific clients.

A 2020 study showed that 80% of financial advisors had received crypto-related questions from their clients. Almost 10% of advisors bought crypto for them.

Earlier this month, iCapital launched a service similar to Flourish Crypto in partnership with Grayscale. This was also in response to growing client demand for crypto solutions and advice. Lawrence Calcano – CEO of iCapital Network – cited an “increasing appetite for uncorrelated return potential in [client’s] portfolios,” at which digital assets were at the center of.