Traders, investors and thought leaders alike are missing the point. It’s time to shift the narrative on the problem with crypto investing and adoption.

In 2017, I purchased entire crypto market and starting talking to people about the concept of a total crypto market index. The main push back I saw was an unwillingness to diversify, and gripes about the risks associated with alt-coins.

These arguments were fair, as they pertained to individual alt-coins and particular ICOs, but as a general rule, volatility has never been a justification for avoiding diversification in any financial market.

I was convinced that the aggregated data had something else to say, so I spent months researching and crunching the numbers to explore. The data was clear: a portfolio with hundreds of coins maximized gains and minimized losses.

I released my first article and conducted a survey to gain insight into the average journey in crypto investment — the results were astounding.

From Reddit comments to emails, it was clear to see that people knew the value of portfolio diversity and truly wanted to get involved in a large number of coins.

So what was stopping them?

Our average survey respondent was invested in 11 cryptos, but wanted to own over 700, noting time and inconvenience as their main barriers to entry.

The feedback was overwhelming and a new conclusion became abundantly clear: The average crypto trader knows that portfolio diversity is the key to a successful investing strategy.

After a quick bit of digging I found dozens of thought leaders touting the very same idea.

As a community, we need to start talking about the real problem and working on solutions which solve it so we can propel cryptocurrency to mass adoption. This lack of accessibility is what’s preventing the community from taking crypto to the next level.

But how is the accessibility issue being addressed right now? The problem seems to be tackled in the same generic way across the board — to improve usability in some minor way, but take control away from the user. This is done instead of meeting users where they are, improving their experiences and allowing them to make big decisions about their portfolios to get deep exposure, quickly. There is still no way for an average trader to invest in the growth of the crypto sector over the course of the next decade, without leaving themselves exposed to crashes of individual assets.

The alternative, to go directly to exchanges, is still the major pain point blocking many prospective crypto buyers. From confusing user interfaces to complicated calculations and conversions, you need to be extremely dedicated to invest the way you want to. And yet, exchanges are the only way to get deep market exposure and get access the interconnected web of crypto. These exchanges are the portals into the crypto world and they desperately need the solution of organization and unification.

At BulkChain, we are truly working towards that solution. The dream of creating your own total market index is within reach, and we’re empowering you with the tools to choose and maintain it.