Challenges in exploring new assets: High-net-worth individuals want to invest in virtual assets but encounter significant obstacles.
High-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) have always been core participants in financial markets. Their investment habits typically revolve around professional financial advisory services, enjoying tailored asset allocation advice, rigorous risk management plans, and rich market insights. This reliance on professional guidance allows them to maneuver adeptly in traditional financial markets.
However, as the emerging virtual asset market rapidly rises, more and more high-net-worth individuals are showing interest in this promising field. They are eager to participate in high-return opportunities brought by digital currencies, NFTs, blockchain ecosystem investments, etc. However, the problem arises: the professional threshold of the virtual asset market is too high, and traditional financial advisors often lack the relevant expertise and resources to provide in-depth advice for clients. For high-net-worth individuals used to relying on professional guidance, this undoubtedly becomes a significant barrier to entering this market.
As a result, they often choose to wait and even completely abandon these emerging opportunities, keeping their funds in familiar traditional markets. This not only limits their investment choices but also causes the virtual asset market to lose a group of potentially important participants.
To address such pain points, an innovative service called "Binance Wealth" has been launched, aimed at filling the professional gap between traditional finance and the virtual asset market. Not only that, this service also provides new tools for financial advisors, helping them enhance their service capabilities and break down barriers to virtual asset investment.
Chain News interviewed Head of VIP & Institutional – Catherine Chen at the Dubai Binance Blockchain Week (BBW) to gain deeper insights into how Binance Wealth is changing the market landscape and bringing new investment opportunities to high-net-worth individuals.
Head of VIP & Institutional – Catherine Chen: Bitcoin ETF storms into Wall Street, opening the door to new asset class investment interest.
Catherine Chen stated that the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF plays a crucial role in the entry of virtual assets into the traditional financial market. In 2024, with Bitcoin spot ETFs issued by financial giants like BlackRock, these products have quickly attracted significant inflows of capital and changed the investment landscape.
According to the latest data (11/27), the cumulative inflow of funds into the Bitcoin spot ETF has exceeded $30.38 billion, with a total of 12 ETFs amounting to $104.32 billion, among which BlackRock's IBIT ETF has total assets of $48.03 billion, becoming the market leader.
Catherine Chen, head of Binance Wealth, stated that the Bitcoin spot ETF not only injected confidence into the virtual asset market but also familiarized and accepted this emerging asset class among more investors through these traditional financial products.
For example, Fidelity's FBTC spot ETF saw a net inflow of $40.24 million in just one day, indicating strong interest from high-net-worth investors in such products.
Catherine Chen told us that after the launch of the Bitcoin spot ETF, although large institutions would be constrained by external conditions and regulatory environments, high-net-worth investors still exhibited a high degree of autonomy. They possess flexible capital allocation abilities and a growing interest in virtual assets.
Catherine Chen pointed out that in the past, when these high-net-worth individuals expressed their interest in purchasing cryptocurrencies to their financial advisors, the limitations of the traditional financial system forced advisors to passively suggest that clients learn on their own or research before guiding clients, which severely hindered the investment process due to high friction costs.
To address this issue, Binance Wealth has built a comprehensive infrastructure that allows financial advisors to seamlessly guide their clients onto the Binance platform to access comprehensive and professional virtual asset investment advisory services. This model not only lowers the learning threshold for investment but also enables advisors to expand their service range while earning intermediary compensation. As Catherine Chen said: "There’s no need to always reinvent the wheel. Many successful models in traditional finance can be completely transplanted to the cryptocurrency field."
As the Bitcoin spot ETF continues to drive education and awareness in the market, virtual asset investments are gradually integrating into the core asset allocation strategies of high-net-worth individuals. This is not only a technological innovation but also a deep integration of traditional finance and emerging markets, having far-reaching implications for the future development of the virtual asset market.
Binance Wealth: The bridge for high-net-worth individuals to invest in cryptocurrencies.
During the conversation with Catherine Chen, we learned that Binance Wealth is a platform designed for wealth management professionals, aiming to assist them in providing cryptocurrency investment opportunities for high-net-worth clients. Binance's advisory services will cover everything from introductory cryptocurrency assets to high-end trading tools, meeting clients' diverse needs. Through Binance Wealth, wealth managers can embark on a new journey of exploring virtual assets for their clients, adding new value opportunities outside of traditional asset allocation.
Moreover, Binance Wealth provides clients with deep liquidity, ensuring efficient and accurate trade execution. This market advantage allows wealth management professionals to offer their clients more competitive trading options, reducing investment costs and improving trading efficiency.
Catherine Chen stated that those interested in becoming Binance Wealth Partners and possessing local compliance financial advisory qualifications can apply for a business account at Binance and lead their clients in starting their journey into virtual asset investments. It is understood that high-net-worth individuals can directly or indirectly interact with Binance accounts, either authorizing financial advisors to assist in spot trading or staking operations on a case-by-case basis, or confirming consent for advisors to manage funds on their behalf.
Binance Wealth is equipped with an intuitive client management dashboard that helps wealth managers comprehensively grasp their clients' investment status. Whether monitoring investment performance, analyzing trading data, or providing advice, these tools assist wealth managers in enhancing service quality. Furthermore, the platform offers customized support services, including dedicated managers and responsive technical support, ensuring clients enjoy a seamless investment experience.
Binance Wealth is a service tailored specifically for wealth managers.
The target users of Binance Wealth are professional wealth managers with investment advisory or asset management service licenses. To ensure compliance and service quality, only those managers who go through Binance's KYB (Know Your Business) process and meet the qualifications can gain full access to the platform.
According to Chain News, currently, there is no investment advisor license related to cryptocurrency investments in the world. Can wealth managers with traditional financial advisory licenses adequately manage this investment? In this regard, Catherine Chen stated that indeed this new asset class has not yet developed relevant qualifications by regulatory bodies, and Binance can only require compliance with the current highest standards. If new qualifications emerge in the future, Binance hopes to follow up.
Finding a balance between compliance and innovation, opening the door for high-net-worth individuals to invest in virtual assets.
The birth of Binance Wealth represents an important integration of the virtual asset market into the mainstream financial ecosystem. By combining deep liquidity, professional support, and compliance measures, it builds a bridge between high-net-worth individuals and virtual asset investments. Binance is committed to lowering entry barriers while providing wealth managers with powerful tools and services to help them overcome various constraints faced by traditional financial systems when dealing with emerging markets.
More importantly, Binance Wealth has found a balance between innovation and compliance. It enables wealth managers to guide clients safely into the virtual asset world while ensuring operations comply with local regulatory requirements, reducing potential legal and market risks. As Catherine Chen said: "There’s no need to reinvent the wheel," Binance's efforts demonstrate that many successful models from traditional finance can be seamlessly transferred to the virtual asset field.
This article features an interview with Binance's Head of VIP: Binance Wealth addresses the pain points of high-net-worth individuals entering the crypto space, allowing traditional advisors to expand their services, first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.