(Rejected 4) Micro-Investment Startup Raiz Gets Greenlight to Offer Bitcoin Fund Options to Australian Consumers
Raiz, an Australian micro-investment financial technology company, is looking to offer Bitcoin fund options to Australian consumers. According to the Australian Financial Review report, Australia’s financial watchdog agency, the Security And Investment Commission, has given Raiz the greenlight to offer its Bitcoin retail fund.
The Sydney-based financial services company is set to bring the first Bitcoin fund options in the country.
Raiz Built $305 Million In Asset Under Management
Established in 2015, Riaz is a fintech startup offering micro-investments services. The company is widely known for its “round-up” product offering that allows its consumers to invest their digital space change automatically.
As of December 2019, Raiz has $305 million worth of assets under management from 211,000 paying clients. Currently, the privately-held company has 300,000 customer accounts, which are open on the service.
Consumers who decide the utilize the Bitcoin retail fund when it is launched will only be able to allocate 5% of their total investment toward Bitcoin, while the majority 95% will be invested in exchange-traded funds.
According to the Australian Financial Review, the company has been pushing to include Bitcoin in its offerings. Now, Riaz has obtained clearance to move forward with its plans. The ASIC approval was the last legal requirement needed, therefore, paving the way for the firm to prepare unveiling the fund during the first half of this year.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission has oversight over the cryptocurrency industry in the country.
Just like Acorns, a U.S based fintech services company, and other worldwide startups, Riaz “rounds up” the spare change from the customers’ purchase to invest in a series of investments of products, mainly including exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Why Raiz App Is Becoming More Popular
Riaz is becoming more popular among consumers. The company’s app is surpassing 1 million downloads. The company also allows consumers to use their spare “crypto change” in many different “round-up” offerings.
Micro-investment services are not widely available for crypto users. There are a few platforms such as Coinseed, which allows consumers to invest a small amount in cryptocurrency by rounding up their spare change from micro-purchases. But such kinds of investment opportunities are accessible for a huge number of potential customers as investors don’t have to be accredited or meet any other specific requirements.
Cryptocurrency Regulation in Australia
The Australian Securities And Investment Commission published new cryptocurrency and initial coin offering (ICO) guidelines on 30th May 2019. The finance regulator emphasized on the need for cryptocurrency businesses to adhere to know your customer and anti-money laundering regulations and to apply for all relevant licenses.
But the Australian Securities and Investment Commission did not cover regulations enforced by other government institutions. Other national institutions remained skeptical towards decentral currencies. For example, Australia’s central bank published a study claiming that cryptocurrencies are not likely to replace the Australian dollar. The central bank majorly cited scalability and usability concerns facing cryptocurrency.
However, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission requires all businesses offering crypto-assets to undertake appropriate measures to satisfy themselves that they are complying with all relevant Australian laws.