A local financial-technology startup is looking to make cryptocurrency investments more accessible to the masses.
Centsy is a mobile app built for the "crypto curious" market, meaning potential investors who want to learn more but feel overwhelmed. The goal is to be an educational resource and reduce barriers to entry, said founder Ryan Bennett. Centsy is not a wallet or exchange platform.
Bennett, who also works with B2B software-as-a-service startups at LogicBoost Labs, is bootstrapping the business with two silent partners from large fintech companies.
The app offers an option for roundup investing, which rounds transactions to the nearest dollar and invests that into a Coinbase wallet. It's a similar roundup service to Betterment or Acorns. Users must have a Coinbase account. The app can access users' transaction data but not bank account information, according to the website.
"There's this clear divide that we've seen particularly in the cryptocurrency space," Bennett said. "There are the 'crypto heads,' as we lovingly call them, where they're just all in it. They're talking to you about NFTs. They have a ton of their net worth tied up in crypto, and they believe in it (to) the ends of the Earth. And then I have people like my financial adviser who advises me to not touch crypto."
Bennett said Centsy's targeted user base would likely have smaller portfolios and potentially manage the micro-investments on their own.
Centsy has been available on app stores for a few months, with the latest version launched last week. Developers have been tweaking the app with a test group of about 50 users. App development is outsourced to California-based Crowdbotics. Bennett describes the startup as being in the MVP stage, or the initial stage in creating a minimum viable product.
The app costs $1.99 per month and does not have transaction fees. Investments are subject to Coinbase's transaction fees.
Bennett said Centsy has a roadmap to move forward, although it could change. The founders are deciding whether to keep funding the app with personal investments or pursue private equity and venture capital. He said Centsy is open to adding employees and would like to bring development in-house.
"(Crypto) should probably have some sort of representation in a portfolio, and the fact that it is this big scary beast in the corner didn't sit right to us," Bennett said. "There's money that floods into this market, but I think we'll have to be really careful in what money we take on."
