WAO Advisory

WAO Advisory

WAO Advisory formed in 2022 and registered with the SEC as a Nevada-based investment advisor. Michael McCarty leads the firm, which operates as the regulated entity powering the Shrimpy application — a consumer-facing tool that originated as a free crypto portfolio tracker before layering on automated indexing. The RIA structure lets the firm provide discretionary rebalancing and portfolio management directly to retail accounts, a compliance posture that distinguishes it from unregistered crypto bots and signal groups. The firm's strategy centers on automated, rules-based portfolio construction across digital assets. Clients connect exchange accounts via API; WAO Advisory's system rebalances target allocations at configurable intervals, effectively operating a robo-advisor for crypto. Asset-class exposure spans large-cap cryptocurrencies, DeFi protocol tokens, layer-1 and layer-2 infrastructure coins, and stablecoin allocations. The platform supports hundreds of assets, with rebalancing execution handled algorithmically to maintain drift-free portfolios. This architecture removes emotional trading from the equation — a structural feature that places WAO alongside early automated crypto managers rather than discretionary hedge funds. WAO Advisory operates from Las Vegas. The Shrimpy platform, which the firm advises, has processed billions in automated trading volume since launch. While the firm does not disclose AUM or team headcount publicly, its SEC registration as a strictly retail-facing automated advisor is unusual in a market where most regulated crypto managers target accredited or institutional investors. In April 2024, Shrimpy announced a partnership with Coinbase's International Exchange to expand automated portfolio capabilities to non-US derivatives markets. WAO's structural differentiator is its pure-play retail mandate executed through a technology stack rather than a human advisor force. Where most RIAs in crypto segment clients by net worth, WAO's automated indexing model serves any account size — a posture closer to Wealthfront or Betterment than to a traditional family office or fund manager. McCarty's decision to wrap the trading infrastructure inside a regulated RIA, rather than operating as a software-only provider, signals a bet that automated digital-asset management will face increasing regulatory scrutiny, and that registration is itself a defensive moat.