eToro has launched a DeFi portfolio, comprising eleven cryptoassets: Ether (ETH), Uniswap (UNI), Chainlink (LINK), Aave (AAVE), Compound (COMP), Yearn.finance (YFI), Decentraland (MANA), Polygon (MATIC), Algorand (ALGO), Basic Attention Token (BAT), and Maker (MKR).
The portfolio offers long-term exposure to key projects in the DeFi ecosystem, a movement that aims to bypass traditional financial intermediaries by putting financial services on the blockchain.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is set to decentralize large parts of the industry through smart contracts, which require no approval from a central authority body.
Dani Brinker, head of portfolio investments at eToro, said: “DeFi is one of the most talked about innovations in finance, with thousands of new cryptoassets emerging in recent months. But for people who don’t have the time to research every asset’s whitepaper, the market may seem like a minefield. By packaging up a selection of cryptoassets in a DeFi CopyPortfolio, we’re doing the heavy lifting and enabling our customers to gain exposure and spread the risk across a variety of cryptos.”
“Decentralised finance is a blockchain-based form of finance that does not rely on central financial intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks to offer traditional financial instruments, and instead utilises smart contracts on blockchains. Both smart contract blockchains and a selection of leading protocols are included in the portfolio, giving you exposure to every corner of DeFi — from Uniswap to Yearn and beyond — without having to spend hours on research. We use eToro’s unique position as an innovator within the crypto domain, to revisit these projects and update the allocation and methodology down the line”, Mr. Brinker added.
Investors can gain exposure to the DeFi portfolio from $1,000 and may track the portfolio’s performance with tools and charts as well as keeping up-to-date on developments in the DeFi sector via eToro’s social feed.
The multi-asset investment platform has recently reported its second quarter 2021 interim financial results, the first since it announced its plans to go public via SPAC with an implied equity value of $10.6 billion.
According to the interim report, eToro has welcomed 2.6 million new registered users, up 121% compared to Q2 2020, with total commissions jumping by 125% to $362 million, and assets under administration reaching $9.4 billion.
Yoni Assia, CEO and Co-founder of eToro, commented: “The rise in self-directed investing and eToro’s growth are underpinned by long-term secular trends in investor behavior. We believe that investors are primarily looking for three things from a platform: (1) simple access to the assets they want to invest in, including cryptoassets, (2) an intuitive and user-friendly mobile interface and (3) financial education, including the ability to draw on the knowledge and insights of other investors. By providing all three in one platform, we are confident that we can lead the democratization of investing and continue to grow our share of an expanding market”.
The broker has added 10 new cryptoassets in recent months including Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, with its crypto offering being expanded with the launch of ETH 2.0 staking.
