Prominent angel investor, internet entrepreneur and podcast host Jason Calacanis has invested in a Bitcoin startup called Keza, which allows users to invest in a portfolio of US stocks, bonds, and fixed incomes using Bitcoin.
As a part of the announcement of the firm’s $357,000 in pre-seed funding raised from Jason Calacanis and Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group, Keza launched its iOS investment application for Apple mobile users. The team stated that they will use the newly raised financing to continue the development of its application and launch of its Android application.
Efficient Platform
Keza was developed by its co-founders Simon Burns and Stefan Britton after they struggled to find an efficient platform to invest their bitcoin into alternative options. With bitcoin payment and its substantially low transaction fees, the Keza investment platform enables any user to invest without minimum thresholds. The concept of a simple and global mobile investment application allows the startup to target all levels of investors, including low-profile traders to enterprise or institutional investors.
The key advantage of using the Keza investment application is its diversity and offers to low-profile investors. Typically, traditional investment platforms and brokers require investors a US$1 million minimum threshold to guarantee their involvement with emerging markets. However, this creates a barrier between emerging markets and individual investors that make up for a larger part of the investing community than high-profile institutional investors.
Three Portfolio Levels
For financial and investment stability, the Keza investment platform also provides three levels of portfolios: conservative, moderate and aggressive. Users and investors looking to see small profit margins from low-risk investments can allocate their bitcoin to the conservative portfolio. However, high profile investors looking for high profit margins could use their bitcoin to purchase the aggressive portfolio, which allocates 48% of the fund to S&P 500.
"Our core user base is likely going to be users in emerging markets who don't have access to high caliber investments and have moved into Bitcoin for either usage of banking services (remittances, cross-border payments), or who see it as a store of value," said Burns.
The Keza investment platform also implements a passive investing strategy called “buy and hold” which allows investors to allocate their funds into index funds for gradual increase in profit.