5 Companies Helping People Get Into Crypto Investing
- NFX’s Morgan Beller has spent years thinking about how to bring newbies into the crypto market.
- She says startups like Gelt and Rocket Dollar, and even Visa, are lowering the barrier to entry.
- This article is part of “Master Your Crypto,” a series from Insider that helps investors improve their cryptocurrency skills and knowledge.
The downturn has sent the price of cryptocurrencies crashing, wiping more than $2 trillion from the market in just eight months. But for people new to crypto, the collapse gives them a window into the market. They see a chance to buy digital assets while prices are low, expecting the long-term value of their investments to rise.
Morgan Beller, an avid crypto investor and general partner at venture firm NFX, has spent years thinking about how to make the crypto market a warm, welcoming place for newbies.
Before moving into startup investing, Beller was the animating spirit behind Facebook’s push into cryptocurrency. She was hired after presenting her idea to integrate blockchain technology into the social network to a company manager. At 26, she led the strategy for Facebook’s own digital currency, called Libra, and a virtual wallet for storing it.
“One of the things that got me out of bed every morning was lowering the barrier to entry for newbies,” Beller told Insider.
While she quit the project after a series of setbacks, Beller didn’t venture far from crypto in her next gig. In 2020, she became a general partner at NFX, a seed-stage firm known for its savvy plays on Lyft, DoorDash and Trulia. Now the 29-year-old investor ranks among crypto’s rising star dealmakers, with investments in Ramp, Radicle and Celestia.
In an interview with Insider, Beller shared five companies that are helping people dip their toes into crypto investing.
Rocket dollar
Rocket Dollar is a fintech that allows anyone to invest their retirement savings in alternative assets such as crypto and real estate. After creating and accumulating money in a self-directed retirement account or 401(k) account, users can diversify their portfolios with investments in digital currencies, digital asset funds, and even blockchain startups. The company charges a $360 registration fee and a $15 monthly fee to maintain the account’s tax-compliant status.
The startup, Beller said, “addresses a huge need for people to save crypto in tax-advantaged retirement accounts.”
Total venture funding: 13.5 million dollars
ZenLedger
It’s no secret that crypto investing can be complicated. But ZenLedger helps people quickly prepare their tax returns by analyzing thousands of transactions across different digital wallets, exchanges and digital asset marketplaces. It’s “basically TurboTax for DeFi,” Beller said. The firm even contracts with the Civil and Criminal Investigation Units of the IRS, making it the agency’s “preferred provider” of forensic accounting and tax software for cryptocurrency.
ZenLedger is an important service, Beller said, “since crypto is still on the fringes of the financial system.”
Total venture funding: 27.3 million dollars
Gelt
Gelt wants to make savings accounts on the blockchain easy to use for people who don’t know DeFi from WiFi. The startup offers savings accounts that convert people’s money into USD Coin, a popular stablecoin, which is a type of digital money whose value is tied to a reserve asset such as a fiat currency or gold. (In May, thousands of consumers saw their investments in stablecoins like Terra and Luna disappear after losing their link to the US dollar.) But Gelt says it insures deposits of up to $100,000 through a partnership with crypto insurer Nexus Mutual.
Earlier this year, Beller led the company’s investment in Gelt because she said it has the potential to make decentralized finance accessible to the masses. People have different risk tolerances for engaging in the crypto market, with some people preferring “hard stuff” like making direct crypto investments, Beller said. Gelt gives them a “beer” option.
Total risk funding: 4.4 million dollars
Visa
While Visa is known for its traditional credit cards, the payments company has planted a crypto stake in a big way. It offers several debit and credit cards, through partnerships with Coinbase and BlockFi, that allow consumers to use crypto to make everyday purchases from food to clothing to airline tickets, and earn rewards in crypto. For now, Visa relies on third-party providers like Coinbase to convert the crypto into local currencies to carry out transactions, but the firm has said it is working toward a future where it handles the mechanics of crypto payments.
Beller described Visa as the “smartest big company I know on the crypto subject.”
Zerion
Zerion creates a digital wallet with a social angle. The app allows people to monitor their investments across multiple blockchains and exchanges and even execute trades without leaving the app. But what sets Zerion apart from other digital wallets, Beller said, is the ability to share a wallet address with friends and follow people to see what they’re investing in. It’s also useful for “whale watching,” the practice of tracking how deep-pocket crypto traders invest.
Total venture funding: 10.2 million dollars
This article is intended to provide general information designed to educate a broad segment of the public; it does not provide personalized investment, legal or other business and professional advice. Before taking any action, you should always consult your own financial, legal, tax, investment or other professional for advice on matters affecting you and/or your business.
