Investing App Alinea Forms Crypto-Trading Pact With Zerohash

Alinea Invest launched a partnership with digital asset infrastructure provider Zerohash, according to a Thursday (Feb. 12) news release.

The collaboration allows users to invest in cryptocurrency along with stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) within the Alinea platform, the release said.

“Younger investors want access without complexity,” Alinea Invest co-founder and co-CEO Anam Lakhani said in the release. “They don’t want another app or a totally different experience just to invest in crypto. They want it integrated into the same place they’re already investing for the long term, with clear guidance and real context.”

User engagement at launch suggests that the inclusion of crypto trading is the platform’s most popular product release in the last year, according to the release. The move is in keeping with a broader shift in crypto adoption among younger investors.

“Rather than turning to standalone crypto-native platforms, Gen Z investors increasingly expect crypto to be offered inside the investing apps they already trust, treated as one asset class among many, not a separate or speculative activity,” the release said.

Zerohash gives Alinea Invest access to “regulated, institutional-grade crypto infrastructure” that lets consumer investing apps quickly launch crypto trading while remaining compliant, without constructing complex systems in-house, according to the release.

“What we’re seeing is a clear acceleration of convergence between TradFi and crypto,” Zerohash founder and CEO Edward Woodford said in the release. “Crypto adoption is increasingly happening inside trusted financial brands, with platforms like Alinea meeting a new generation of investors where they already are by treating crypto as a standard part of a diversified portfolio.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS examined some of the challenges facing wider crypto adoption this week in the latest installment of the “From the Block” podcast.

In the episode, Andrew Balthazor, associate and co-lead of the crypto asset disputes team at Holland and Knight LLP, said he regularly hears “heartbreaking stories” from victims of crypto scams, and in many cases, there is not much they can do to recoup their losses. The industry hasn’t yet found a solution to prevent criminals from exploiting the technology.

“The question isn’t whether blockchain rails are faster or cheaper,” PYMNTS reported Thursday (Feb. 12). “It’s whether the protections that make traditional finance trustworthy, such as the remedies, accountability and recourse, exist yet in crypto. Balthazor said they largely don’t.”