Gemini To Expand Institutional Reach via Partnership With Betterment

Crypto exchange and custody firm to serve as the digital investment adviser’s custodian for new portfolio offering

article-image

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of Gemini | Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Betterment’s 730,000 customers to have access next month to crypto portfolios constructed from digital assets listed on the Gemini Exchange
  • Banks, fintechs and wealth managers among the institutions showing more interest in crypto, Gemini chief strategy officer says

Top robo-advisers are deepening their still-nascent cryptocurrency dealings. 

The latest indicator: digital assets exchange and custodian Gemini has struck a deal with quantitative financial adviser Betterment in an effort to capture a slice of the growing number of crypto-minded institutions that are, in turn, going after retail traders apace.

With more than 730,000 customers, Betterment is set to offer crypto portfolios to clients starting next month constructed from digital assets listed on Gemini. Gemini serves as Betterment’s crypto custodian. 

Partners of Betterment for Advisors, a product that allows investment pros to automate portfolio management, would as a result for the first time be able to invest in crypto for clients. 

“We’re seeing increased interest in crypto from a broad range of institutions and intermediaries from large global banks, to fintechs, to wealth managers,” Marshall Beard, Gemini’s chief strategy officer, told Blockworks in an email. “We think these institutions will be critical to onboarding the next wave of people into Web3 and crypto.”

Despite the ongoing bear market, some industry participants say crypto interest from traditional finance players is higher than ever.

Fidelity in April moved to allow certain US workers to allocate a portion of their retirement savings to bitcoin through the company’s 401(k) options. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager with $8.5 trillion in assets under management, partnered with Coinbase last month and days later launched a bitcoin private trust.

The investment case for ether has changed for institutions after the Merge, proof-of-stake aficionados say, because staking yields that investors can now earn from the asset could bring in a flood of institutional capital looking for fixed-income-like returns.

The company acquired digital asset portfolio management platform BITRIA in January to allow more asset and wealth managers to meet clients’ demand for crypto. A week later, the company said it would buy crypto trading tech platform Omniex in a deal designed to simplify the experience for institutional investors looking to go deeper into the space. 

Gemini-owned NFT art marketplace Nifty Gateway was selected to offer NFT storage for Starbucks’ Web3 loyalty program revealed earlier this month.

“We are always looking at accretive partnerships with both institutions and consumer brands that can help bring crypto to more people,” Beard said.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

We believe DoubleZero, given its symbiotic relationship with validators & searchers, promise to boost overall network efficiency and throughput, lack of competition, and ability to serve many blockchain ecosystems, will command meaningful pricing power and could command a meaningful take of priority revenues across blockchains.

article-image

A new policy framework says decentralization should be judged by control — not vibes

article-image

You know about the Bitcoin Standard — what about the Bitcoin Scholarship?

article-image

Toku’s suit accuses an ex-employee of stealing confidential business information and sharing it with competitor Liquifi

article-image

Partial recovery is already in motion, according to the Loopscale team

article-image

Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Apple are slated to report Q1 earnings this week, and we’re watching one especially closely

article-image

Tariff concerns on corporate earnings and weakening of the US dollar contributed to the surge, CoinShares exec says