Binance says it has become the first crypto exchange to offer a wealth management solution.
Binance Wealth, announced Tuesday (Oct. 29), lets wealth managers oversee the onboarding of their clients and make investment recommendations, and get support during onboarding and afterward, similar to traditional wealth management.
“Binance Wealth is the first crypto exchange solution enabling wealth managers to address their high-net-worth clients’ interest for exposure to this new asset class,” the company said in a news release. “Binance is meeting demand from the private wealth segment preferring to diversify their portfolios with the support of their trusted wealth managers.”
According to the release, the offer reduces the entry barrier for wealth managers and their high-net-worth clients seeking digital assets exposure, but within an experience that is “near-identical” to the traditional financial advisory framework.
The service also offers exposure beyond bitcoin and ethereum — the two most popular cryptocurrencies — offering access to a range of supported tokens. In addition, Binance Wealth supports trading and earn/staking products, for clients interested in active and passive investing.
“As investors worldwide recognize the potential of digital assets, we are responding to wealth managers and their clients asking for a solution to more easily access crypto,” said Catherine Chen, head of Binance VIP & Institutional.
“Unlocking capital inflow is key to making digital assets mainstream, but there has long been a lack of traditional infrastructure for the private wealth segment to gain exposure to crypto. Binance Wealth will reduce the entry barrier for more market participants to access this new asset class and help bridge crypto and traditional finance.”
The launch comes at a moment when — as PYMNTS wrote earlier this month — the crypto world is seeking greater utility — and recognition — across the financial services landscape.
For example, Stripe recently authorized its U.S. merchants to receive the Circle-issued USDC through their online checkout pages, and earlier said it would bring back crypto payments after ceasing them in 2018.
PYMNTS Intelligence research has from 2022 found that 77% of merchants that accept crypto payments did so because of lower transaction processing fees compared to other payment methods. And 32% of merchants that were expanding their use of crypto did so because they thought it could help them reach new customers.
“And at the center of this emerging crypto payments space aren’t the various cryptocurrencies that have populated the space for over a decade now without making a dent in merchant acceptance, instead, observers and industry stakeholders alike are pinning their hopes on stablecoins, such as … USDC,” PYMNTS wrote.
