John Schmeltz
Loyola Marymount University
Jeff Thies
Keep this story going! Share below!
For most people interested in making investments in cryptocurrencies, they must do so through third-party apps (For example Robinhood or Venmo) that are not regulated. CryptoFi is working to implement its crypto solution into banking and credit union platforms to provide users with a regulated service. This will increase trust in their investments with proper regulation through their desired bank or credit union.
Kian has worked in the financial technology (fintech) industry since 2015. He recognized the value of investing in cryptocurrencies, yet he knew there were no properly regulated platforms to protect investors from the risks associated with investing in crypto. Robinhood originally inspired the idea to create a service to easily make crypto purchases through a mobile phone. His idea differed from Robinhood when he elected to work with banks and credit unions. Kian recognized that banks and credit unions needed to continue to progress in offering a variety of exchanges to remain competitive and successful. Now, banks and CUs can compete with providers such as Robinhood and Coinbase. They no longer risk losing customers and can attract new ones, because of the crypto exchange services provided by CryptoFi.
Integrating crypto exchange technology into banks and credit unions is a valuable idea because they do not hold existing infrastructure to make crypto exchanges. CryptoFi gives banks the power to seamlessly offer crypto to their customers with turnkey solutions. Working with Banks and CUs, CryptoFi has a qualified custodian that is regulated with oversight.
“20% of people in the US hold crypto in exchanges, but 80% are not buying crypto because they do not understand how to make exchanges,” notes Sarreshteh. CryptoFi addresses this market of skeptical, potential investors, alongside protecting the long term growth of banks and CUs, to provide their customers with professional oversight of their investments.
Kian has worked in the financial technology (fintech) industry since 2015. He recognized the value of investing in cryptocurrencies, yet he knew there were no properly regulated platforms to protect investors from the risks associated with investing in crypto. Robinhood originally inspired the idea to create a service to easily make crypto purchases through a mobile phone. His idea differed from Robinhood when he elected to work with banks and credit unions. Kian recognized that banks and credit unions needed to continue to progress in offering a variety of exchanges to remain competitive and successful. Now, banks and CUs can compete with providers such as Robinhood and Coinbase. They no longer risk losing customers, and can attract new ones, because of the crypto exchange services provided by CryptoFi.
Integrating crypto exchange technology into banks and credit unions is a valuable idea because they do not hold existing infrastructure to make crypto exchanges. CryptoFi gives banks the power to seamlessly offer crypto to their customers with turnkey solutions. Working with Banks and CUs, CryptoFi has a qualified custodian that is regulated with oversight.
“20% of people in the US hold crypto in exchanges, but 80% are not buying crypto because they do not understand how to make exchanges,” notes Sarreshteh. CryptoFi addresses this market of skeptical, potential investors, alongside protecting the long term growth of banks and CUs, to provide their customers with professional oversight of their investments.
With recent crypto news concerning FTX, now more than ever, crypto investors need a safe and professionally regulated platform to make exchanges. FTX was not regulated or backed by any major institutions. Some lost hundreds, thousands, millions, even billions of savings due to their hefty investments in FTX’s coin, FTT. Investors will likely not get their money back. If investors had the option to invest through their bank or CU, while receiving the education on the risk of their investment, they could have been protected from losing their capital. “Banks are trustworthy, crypto should be no different,” says Kian after reflecting on the impact of CryptoFi’s services in regards to FTX.
As of right now, 20% of people own crypto and/or have it on exchanges. With that being said, 80% of people that are not buying crypto do not understand it. This falls under a lack of education about the purchasing practices of cryptocurrencies. This leaves an entire untapped market of people who, if educated correctly, could move towards investing in crypto. It is also important to note that the innovation of cryptocurrency has led to safe, secure, and seamless financial interactions and the financial technology has the power to make global cross-border exchanges at the same time that it takes to send a text message.
Cryptocurrency has had a tremendous impact on the verification of custodians and the policies surrounding them. This innovation has allowed us to create technology that links our service within banks. It also allows us to eliminate any bad actors or custodians running off with our investments.
The unique selling point of CryptoFi is the platform’s turnkey crypto solutions for its clients. CryptoFi works with banks and credit unions to aid the long-term success of their services by providing the option for retail investors to buy and sell crypto directly from their native app. Offering crypto exchange technology to traditional banks and credit unions is a valuable idea because these institutions do not hold existing infrastructure to make their own crypto exchanges, thus providing seamless and convenient solutions for their clients. Therefore, the overall business benefit is to the industry as a whole because CryptoFi makes crypto exchanges more accessible to traditional banks and credit unions, as well as retail investors of all experience levels in buying and selling crypto.
CryptoFi is pushing societal benefits and it has done so by aligning themselves to two main U.N. sustainable development goals. The first is SDG#1: “Zero Poverty” and SDG #4: “Quality Education.” CryptoFi differentiates themselves in the fintech industry by providing an easy to use, accessible investment platform and combining the exchange with an educational platform listing the hundreds of coins available on the crypto market. By making crypto exchanges easier and more accessible for customers, they are creating a more equitable financial investment economy, therefore contributing to the greater goal of eliminating poverty. Not all crypto exchanges offer access to every coin on the market. Since CryptoFi offers more than the just the major coins (Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum), they are offering a diverse group of coins that allow for investors of different risk appetites and capital sizes to invest. The banks and credit unions that CryptoFi targets are smaller, local institutions. Giving them a chance to retain customers, as well as add new members, ensures that they will not lose members to larger banking institutions. It also means more protection to customers for their informed investment decisions. The educational side of CryptoFi includes a description of the coin showing its market performance, volatility, and history to ensure each potential investor understands the risk and market value of their coin. Additionally, investing through a customer’s desired bank or credit union ensures that each investment is professionally regulated, so they do not have to fear losing their investment funds to a fraudulent exchange. Overall, CryptoFi will promote growth in the crypto market because the value of the coins will rise as the general public increases their trust in the legitimacy of their investments.
Secondly, they are contributing to SDG#8: ‘Decent Work and Sustainable Economic Growth.’ On the operations side, CryptoFi has implemented a hybrid onshore and offshore model. This includes six engineers in the US and eight engineers in Pakistan. The company is remote, so there is no difference in the location of any person. CryptoFi has a global workforce that works around the clock, due to the different time zones of the employees, making it efficient and equitable because all hours of the day are covered by someone around the world. Each employee offers their own unique specialization in their given tasks from their home. The tasks of the company include sales to banks and credit unions, marketing, software development, product implementation, human resources and more. As previously noted, partnering with banks and credit unions gives their customers profession regulation and oversight that 3rd party platforms do not offer. Giving customers the opportunity to minimize the risk in their investments, while having professional oversight, means that there is room for economic growth. Professional regulators will not aid in investment collapses from fraudulent coins, such as FTX, and can prevent these mistakes from happening in the first place. If there are no crashes in the crypto market, the value of the coins will grow. Those who make proper investments early on will reap in their future benefits. No investor will be left out because of the easy access to crypto exchanges on their bank or credit union’s app.
Get stories of positive business innovations from around the world delivered right to your inbox.
Kian Sarreshteh, Co-Founder/CEO
CryptoFi is a service for banks/credit unions that allows their customers to make crypto investments, with professional regulations and guidance from their trusted bank or credit union, through their native mobile app.