When local entrepreneur Ian Kane stops for coffee, pumps his gas and makes a trip to the grocery store, he swipes his card just like everyone else. But he's not paying with cash — he's paying with cryptocurrency.
Kane has spent years learning about and collecting cryptocurrency and said it was only a matter of time before his interest led to something more.
Three years ago, Kane, alongside Daniel Gouldman, co-founded Unbanked, a Charlotte- and Atlanta-based fintech startup. It gives users the ability to democratize cryptocurrency through Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.-backed bank accounts and debit cards.
"Blockchain, as a whole, is compelling because it decentralizes access and democratizes through transparency," Kane said. "When we started, one of the things we were looking at was how digital assets and blockchain can help bring a level of access and control over people’s money."
Unbanked decided to start with a debit card that allowed people to add digital assets like Bitcoin, litecoin and Ethereum to it like they would money out of their bank account. The debit card is backed by Visa and can be used for merchant services like any other Visa debit or credit card.
"Everybody was speculating on the price of Bitcoin, but nobody was using their Bitcoin to buy gas or groceries or pay for their Netflix," he said. "We thought it would be really cool to just have a Visa card where you can go and spend it."
Kane said Unbanked gained traction quickly and decided the obvious next step was to develop a bank account where digital assets could be stored. This, he said, is an easy way for those not yet using cryptocurrency to dip their toes in.
The FDIC-backed bank account allows users to transfer funds between other digital asset accounts, as well as regular bank accounts, and can be used alongside the debit card for purchases.
It ended up being a huge hit.
"Most banks do not allow you to do cryptocurrency transactions, so we partnered with some different correspondent banks to offer FDIC free checking accounts to allow people to get into crypto," Kane said. "So now we’ve covered the off ramp of people spending digital assets and the on ramp of people buying digital assets."
Now, Unbanked has rolled out what Kane calls "white label programs" to at least 10 major digital asset companies. The startup provides companies like Bitcoin with its technology, customer service and compliance. In return, the digital asset companies can offer Unbanked's services to its millions of customers.
"They all have millions of customers around the world who have digital assets, but what they don’t have is a way to use them. That’s where the cards and bank accounts come in," he said. "What brought me into this was seeing the way money could be transmitted; the shift to digital assets is a tsunami."
