eToro, the global multi-asset investment platform, has today launched a DeFi portfolio, offering investors long-term exposure to key projects in the DeFi ecosystem, enabling them to become part of one of the most innovative developments in finance.
Decentralised finance (DeFi) is a movement that aims to bypass traditional financial intermediaries by putting financial services on the blockchain. Rather than merely decentralising transactions (as with Bitcoin), DeFi aims to decentralise wider parts of the financial industry. This is accomplished through smart contracts, which are snippets of computer code that enable complex transfers and agreements to be carried out on the blockchain without the need for approval from a central authority body.
eToro’s DeFi portfolio comprises eleven DeFi 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).
Dani Brinker, head of portfolio investments at eToro comments: “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.”
eToro Portfolios offer investors ready-made, fully allocated exposure to various market themes. Bundling together several assets under a defined methodology, and employing a passive investment approach, eToro portfolios are long-term investment solutions that offer diversified exposure with no management fees.
“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”, explains Brinker. “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.”
Initial investment starts from $1,000 and investors can access tools and charts to track the portfolio’s performance, while eToro’s social feed will keep them up-to-date on developments in the DeFi sector. DeFi is one of over sixty portfolios available on eToro.