Wealthfront debuts customizable portfolios and crypto products to distinguish its offering in the crowded US robo-advisory market and tap into the growing popularity of self-directed and crypto investing.

Acorns’ competitors Betterment and Wealthfront, which also had record-breaking Q1s, could be next as they have been touted as prime acquisition targets.

In the US, for instance, Wealthfront users can set the feature to transfer excess cash between in-app accounts.

Startup wealth managers saw an uptick in adoption in 2020: Wealthfront, for example, saw a 50% spike in sign-ups in late February, while Wealthsimple reported 27% year-over-year (YoY) growth in deposits in March and April.

US PFM players M1 Finance and Wealthfront, for example, allow users to transfer excess cash automatically based on a threshold they set between their in-app checking and investment accounts. This would be a natural expansion of Chip’s existing services, which already automate transfers between users’ banks and in-app savings accounts.

But Wealthsimple should also fuel user growth within its existing investment offering—to do so, it could follow the lead of fellow digital wealth manager Wealthfront and add more self-directed investing options. Wealthsimple could let users build their portfolios from a selection of ETFs.

Wealthsimple struggled to gain a foothold in the US digital wealth management market since its 2017 launch, and its AUM was dwarfed by players such as Betterment and Wealthfront.