Makara

Makara was a Seattle cryptocurrency investment startup that operated a robo-advisor for digital assets. The product built "thematic baskets" of cryptocurrencies — for example exposure to the largest coins by market capitalization or to themes such as decentralized finance — and assembled personalized portfolios spanning assets including Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, so that retail investors did not have to research and track individual coins themselves. Educational features aimed at helping users learn about crypto investing were part of the offering.

The company was spun out of Strix Leviathan, a Seattle cryptocurrency trading and management service for enterprises and institutions founded in 2018, and reused trading technology originally developed there. Makara received SEC approval as a registered investment advisor, which the company and press coverage described as the first crypto robo-advisor of its kind to be SEC-registered. It emerged from stealth in March 2021, initially offered access via a waitlist, launched publicly in May 2021 and released a mobile app on June 1, 2021.

In February 2022, investment advisor Betterment — which described itself as the largest independent digital investment advisor, with roughly $32-33 billion in assets under management and nearly 700,000 client accounts — agreed to acquire Makara for undisclosed terms, with the intention of adding crypto portfolios for retail investors and advisory clients. Makara was to continue operating as an independent brand, while Strix Leviathan continued separately with eight employees.