Halo Invest Adviser Gateway is now live, offering advisers a light-touch, client-administrated option to efficiently service customers with more modest assets. The platform, led by CEO Douglas Boyce, has secured its first advice firm client and a strong pipeline of new business for the immediate future. The platform is built to make investing “simpler, fairer and better” through innovative functionality, including a transfer dashboard for advisers to easily check progress for clients and corporate actions that the adviser doesn’t need to respond to individually. It also uses Go Cardless for efficient client money addition. The platform features include onboarding, trading, custody, and reporting, as well as a comprehensive range of investments and wrappers. The senior management team at Halo Invest has close to 200 years of combined experience within financial services, including former Tatton CEO Helen O’Neill, Head of Risk and Compliance Wendy Crawford, and Head of Customer Lynn Johnston. Halo Invest Adviser Gateway represents an evolution rather than a revolution, helping advisers achieve profitability from parts of their client book where it was previously difficult or impossible.
Bitcoin ownership skews towards retail at 66% but institutions are catching up with funds and ETFs at 8% and businesses 6% highlighting balance sheet adoption momentum
River, the U.S.-based bitcoin financial services firm says individuals still own the majority of bitcoin. The study groups bitcoin supply into a few categories and shows the market share of each, using public filings, custodial address tagging and earlier blockchain research. River estimates individuals control about 65.9% of circulating BTC, or 13.83 million coins. This bucket includes self-custodied wallets and exchange accounts that River classifies as individual. On the institutional side, River divides holdings into businesses, ETFs and funds: Businesses — a global category covering corporate treasuries and conventional firms that report bitcoin holdings — account for about 6.2% of supply, or 1.30 million BTC. ETFs and funds — spot ETFs and investment vehicles that custody coins for clients — control about 7.8%, or 1.63 million BTC. Governments are shown at about 1.5%, or 306,000 BTC, based on sovereign addresses tracked from public sources. Two special categories round out the distribution: Lost bitcoin makes up about 7.6%, or 1.58 million BTC. River says this is inferred from age heuristics, which show coins that have not moved for many years and are likely unrecoverable. Satoshi/Patoshi holdings are pegged at about 4.6%, or 968,000 BTC, based on earlier research into early-era mining patterns. Finally, about 5.2% of the supply, or 1.09 million BTC, has yet to be mined before the hard cap of 21 million is reached. In plain terms, River’s research is an attempt to map who holds bitcoin today, not to forecast future prices. The estimates are not definitive, since custodians aggregate many clients, some wallets are misclassified, and ownership can be opaque. River’s conclusion is that individuals still dominate holdings, but the institutional share is expanding, helped by the growth of ETFs and companies that now treat bitcoin as a balance-sheet asset.
eToro’s AI tools to enable retail traders to develop bespoke trading algorithms, automate trade execution with precision and interact with social feed via customizable boiler plates and rich media posts creating a community-led marketplace for investing
eToro is launching a suite of AI-tools that will transform social investing by creating a community-built marketplace for investing built on top of eToro’s new public API. This marks a significant leap forward in the democratization of investing, arming retail traders and investors with sophisticated, AI powered capabilities previously only accessible to quantitative hedge funds. The suite of AI-tools will initially be available to eToro’s Popular Investors, a subset of users who are a vetted group of top traders and investors who meet specific criteria and whose investment strategies can be copied by other users via eToro’s patented CopyTrader technology. The key capabilities which will be deployed include the ability to: Develop bespoke trading algorithms and automate strategies; Automate trade execution: AI-driven algorithms to execute trades with precision, minimizing latency and maximizing efficiency; Integrate real-time market data and third-party tools, including backtesting and advanced analytics, to identify trends and opportunities across stocks, crypto, and ETFs, in order to build investment strategies; Personalize portfolio optimization: Tailored recommendations based on risk profiles, market conditions, and user behavior; Create personalized dashboards for monitoring portfolios and market activity including sophisticated risk management tools, powered by AI including Value-at-Risk (VaR) analysis and portfolio stress testing; Interact with eToro’s social feed via customizable boiler plates e.g. rich media posts. eToro’s focus on AI-empowerment, includes the launch of Tori, eToro’s next-gen AI companion. Tori is a powerful AI assistant transforming how users interact with eToro: answering questions, surfacing personalized insights, guiding them across the platform, and helping them better understand the world of investment – all through natural conversation.
WealthChain files patent for Oracle‑driven smart‑contract “wealth blockchain” to replace wills and trusts, with death verification, emergency stops, identity tokens and immutable compliance logs
WealthChain Protocols announced the filing of a pioneering patent for its WEALTH Blockchain™, an innovative platform that aims to revolutionize estate planning and asset protection through self-executing smart contracts. The WEALTH Blockchain™ is a pioneering smart contract and oracle-driven platform that reimagines estate planning, asset protection, and wealth management & transfer in the digital age. This filing marks a key milestone in the development of the first blockchain specifically engineered to replace traditional legal documents — including wills, trusts, and powers of attorney — with self-executing smart contracts governed by real-world legal triggers. Key Features of the WEALTH Blockchain™ Include: A Death Verification Oracle using two independent government sources and notarized affidavits to trigger smart contracts; A Dynamic Beneficiary Registry that allows flexible, on-chain updates to beneficiary designations; Built-in Emergency Stop Mechanisms enabling family members, trustees, and courts to pause execution during disputes; Blockchain-native, encrypted Identity Tokens for secure access control; Immutable Compliance Logging for regulatory transparency and legal auditability. Boyd & Boyd, P.C. has been selected as the initial licensee and official affiliate of the WEALTH Blockchain™. The firm will integrate the technology into its Wealth Protection & Transfer Plan™, providing clients with cutting-edge smart estate plans backed by decades of legal expertise.
Investing in alt assets like private market, real estate interests and digital assets through 401(k) could improve diversification and democratize access but may expose retirement savers to unnecessary risk, higher fees and potentially irreversible losses
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to clear the way for Americans to invest their retirement savings in private equity, cryptocurrency, real estate and other alternative assets. It’s a big win for the asset industry — giving financial managers access to some of the $12.2 trillion in Americans’ 401(k) and related retirement plans. Private assets can also be more lucrative, and the Trump administration said they can give retirement savers more opportunities. “The theoretical benefits are that everyday Americans can invest in a broader menu of companies,” said Robert Brokamp, a financial planning expert at stock market research company The Motley Fool. But critics say it could put people in danger of losing a huge chunk of their retirement savings. Plus the fees are higher for private assets than for typical 401(k) investments like mutual funds and ETFs. Right now, private equity is technically allowed in retirement plans, but it’s rare — though some companies like BlackRock are planning new offerings. There are ways people can invest in crypto through their 401(k)s, too, but it’s also not common. And many 401(k) recordkeepers don’t support private equity funds yet. The executive order directs the Department of Labor to re-examine its guidance and clarify its position on alternative assets like private market investments, real estate interests and digital assets within 180 days. And it tells the Securities and Exchange Commission to consider ways to facilitate access to alternative assets for plans like 401(k)s. With updated guidance from the government, employers may feel more comfortable adding these alternative assets into their 401(k)s. Many experts say that might not be a good thing. SageMint Wealth managing partner Anh Tran said, “It could be detrimental to less-informed investors whose only investment account is their 401(k). Without proper guardrails, such as limiting exposure to 5% to 10% of the portfolio, these investors could be exposed to unnecessary risk, misaligned expectations and potentially irreversible losses.” Knut Rostad, co-founder and president of the nonprofit Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, also fears private assets in 401(k)s could put retirement savers at risk of big losses. Kenneth E. Bentsen Jr., president and CEO of SIFMA, said “Policy changes to expand access to private markets investments — appropriately tailored under ERISA and SEC rules — could serve to improve diversification, democratize access, and offer more investment choices to the benefit of everyday retirement savers.”
Chainalysis Index: North America’s crypto activity jumps 49% to $2.2T amid ETF‑driven institutional interest, while APAC is fastest growing at 69% YoY; India and the U.S. top the 2025 index
The Chainalysis 2025 Global Adoption Index found the growth strongest in North America, at 49%, though numbers were up throughout much of the world, across all income brackets. “That synchronicity suggests the current wave of crypto adoption is broad-based rather than isolated – benefiting mature markets with clearer rules and institutional rails, as well as emerging markets where remittances, dollar access via stablecoins, and mobile-first finance continue to accelerate adoption,” the report said. According to the report, the growth in North America, with the region receiving more than $2.2 trillion in the past year, is a reflection of a time of renewed institutional interest, helped along by the launch of spot bitcoin ETFs and increased regulatory clarity. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was the fastest growing part of the world when it came to on-chain crypto activity, the report found, with a 69% year-over-year increase in value received for the 12 months ending June of 2025. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region was the fastest growing part of the world when it came to on-chain crypto activity, the report found, with a 69% year-over-year increase in value received for the 12 months ending June of 2025. Meanwhile, stablecoin transaction volume continues to be dominated by USDT (Tether) and USDC. Between June 2024 and June of this year, USDT processed more than $1 trillion per month, peaking at $1.14 trillion in January 2025. USDC ranged from $1.24 trillion to $3.29 trillion monthly, with especially steep activity in October 2024.
Adding private equity investments that are illiquid, carry high fees and are fraught with valuation challenges to 401(k) accounts could pose systemic risks and make the retirement plans suboptimal
Trump signed an executive order that will make it easier for several alternative investments to be added to 401(k) accounts. The list includes private equity, which was previously reserved for sophisticated investors. It’s a proposal that’s raising red flags among some investment experts, who say a 401(k) should typically be a simple and relatively low-risk investment vehicle. Private equity investments, meanwhile, are often concentrated in a small number of portfolio companies, are less liquid than stocks and bonds, and carry valuations that can be difficult to measure day-to-day. “Private equity kind of always gets what it wants in Congress, but I think it’s a bad idea,” Jeffrey Hooke, professor at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, said. “It’s illiquid, the fees are very high. Private equity funds, for the most part, don’t beat the stock market.” “I don’t think it’s a good investment for the rank and file retail market,” Hooke added. As higher rates stymie private equity dealmaking, firms are eyeing a liquidity opportunity: gaining access to the $12 trillion 401(k) market. Brian Payne, chief private markets and alternatives strategist at BCA Research, described this development as “an exit ramp for the current situation going on for private equity.” It won’t just be private equity looking for retail exposure — Hooke expects other alternatives like private credit and real estate to follow suit. “It’ll make the retirement plans suboptimal,” Hooke said. “When people retire 20 to 30 years after investing in private equity, returns are going to be a little less than one would expect.” While retirement vehicles typically have longer timelines, reducing the need for immediate liquidity, Payne sees a risk if an economic downturn increases unemployment and forces more people to tap into their 401(k)s. Moody’s Investors Service recently raised a similar concern, noting that retail investor participation in the private markets poses systemic risks. While Payne and Hooke are skeptical about the increased presence of private equity in retail portfolios, it’s unlikely that private equity will comprise a large portion of people’s retirement plans. Experts project around 10% of retirement assets could go toward private equity over time, which means Americans will probably be shielded from dramatic price swings. Glenn Schorr, senior research analyst at Evercore ISI, wrote in a note that corporate sponsors may also be hesitant to invest in private equity vehicles. However, mixing complicated assets like private equity into retirement vehicles is certainly a risky choice.
Raise unifies public and private assets in one screen, enabling scenario simulation, optimization and personalized advice for family offices and private banks
Raise Partner, a France-based B2B WealthTech provider, has launched a new version of its flagship digital solution, Smart Risk Decisions, designed to meet the needs of family offices and private banks. The web-based platform allows wealth managers to model and optimize multi-asset class portfolios, including equities, fixed income, private assets, and real estate, with an intuitive interface that requires no IT integration. The solution provides a unified global view of client portfolios and supports the simulation, optimization, and risk assessment of complex allocations. The platform addresses growing client expectations for a global wealth approach and personalized, transparent advice. Its modular design allows for the integration of additional asset classes on demand.
Agentic AI can transform financial advisory with conversational workstations, automatic research, and context-aware communication, expanding advisor capacity for meaningful client engagement and service
Unlike predictive or generative AI, agentic AI can manage and execute end-to-end processes with little to no human interaction, said David Breakstone, managing director at Salesforce. The conversational technology is able to break down large projects into smaller tasks within established guardrails, he said. “Agents can do the jobs that we don’t want to do, and they could deliver instantaneous execution,” he said. Advisors can define which tools the agentic AI should use for problem-solving, said Erik Allison, managing partner of Wealth Vision. This is a step beyond simple workflows, he said. In addition, workflows are usually based around what advisors are currently doing that they want to do quicker, said Geoff Moore, chief information officer of Valmark Financial Group. One area where advisors might see immediate gains is in the life cycle of a prospect to a client in the meeting, said Allison. Once a prospect’s contact information hits the advisor’s CRM, the agentic AI could perform intelligence research by searching public domains such as Google and LinkedIn. Then, an agenda could be automatically prepared before the initial meeting. And after the meeting, a follow-up email could be prepared and sent automatically with bullet points. Due diligence on alternative investments is already being significantly shaved down through the use of agentic AI, said Rob Pettman, president of TIFIN. Advisors have a responsibility to ensure that what comes out of the other end of these tools is accurate, said Allison. This could look less like prompt engineering and more like context engineering, said Moore. One example of what the future could look like is the concept of “vibe coding,” in which natural language prompts are used in the coding process. “We’re putting this technology in the hands of people that have never dealt with some of this stuff,” he said. Even with humans looking over the outputs, agentic AI could serve as an extra review that wasn’t possible before, said Moore. “You’ll be able to cover more cases than you could before, because now it’s with AI and not just a human,” he said. Looking down the road, Moore said he foresees an integrated agentic AI workstation that will serve as a centralized tool that advisors can speak to normally. “They don’t have to be programmers; they can just talk to it,” he said. Pettman said he thought a single-advisor office with no support staff would be a possibility in the future.
Ondo launches tokenized U.S. stocks and ETFs on Ethereum for non‑U.S. investors; backed by broker‑held securities, with 24/5 mint‑redeem access and DeFi‑ready transfers
Ondo Finance launched Wednesday its tokenized equity platform dubbed Ondo Global Markets, offering non-U.S. investors access to more than 100 U.S. stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on-chain. The tokenized equities, has gone live on Ethereum and are backed by securities held at U.S.-registered broker-dealers, the firm said. The offering includes crypto token versions of Apple (AAPL), Nvidia (NVDA) and the QQQ ETF among others. Investors in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Africa and Latin America can mint and redeem shares around the clock during trading days, with access to underlying exchange liquidity. The service is not available for U.S. users. The tokens are designed to move freely between wallets, exchanges and decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols. The firm has also partnered with BitGo, Ledger, Chainlink and other infrastructure providers to support the rollout. Ondo said it plans to expand the selection to more than 1,000 assets by the end of this year and bring the service to Solana and BNB Chain (BNB) with LayerZero-powered interoperability. “We saw stablecoins export the U.S. dollar by bringing it on-chain,” said Nathan Allman, founder and CEO of Ondo Finance. “Now, Ondo Global Markets is doing the same thing for U.S. securities.” The rollout comes as tokenization of real-world assets (RWAs) gains momentum across crypto markets, with projects bringing treasuries, private credit and now equities onto blockchains pursuing broader access and liquidity.