The Stack app aims to get teens involved in crypto, safely
Today marks the launch of “the first crypto education and trading app for teenagers and their parents,” which hopes to compete with the likes of Robinhood and Coinbase.
Stack is designed with Gen Z in mind, as they are the generation that will grow up with, and most likely own, digital assets, according to Will Rush, who co-founded the company with Natalie Young and Angela Mascarenas in 2021.
Rush had been inspired to launch the project based on the time he spent teaching kids about investing in a previous job. While there, he found that replacing the word “stock” with “crypto” generated more engagement.
Rush also read Reddit posts detailing efforts by teenagers to use their parents’ credentials to buy crypto through Robinhood or Coinbase, only to have their accounts frozen for being underage.
“Obviously, this was a thesis that no one made a groundbreaking effort on,” Rush said. “How can we be the good guys and create a safe and educational ecosystem?”
Older competition
In order to compete with older competitors like Coinbase and Robinhood, Rush believes that Stack excels by offering a trading environment specifically designed for teenagers.
In addition to providing crypto educational material, users can also earn rewards as they learn, which may include a free subscription to the app, which starts at $3 per month after a six-month free trial.
The platform will only offer a limited number of assets to protect users, Rush said. They include seven cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano. He also believes that a ban on the transfer of assets from the platform “will cut down on up to 98% of the cryptocurrency fraud and scams plaguing exchanges.”
Additional features for first-time youth crypto buyers include access to the tax and control benefits of a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) account, as well as assets that are automatically transferred into their names when they reach legal adulthood at 18.
Make plans for the future
Following a $2.7 million investment round from Madrona, The Venture Collective, Santa Clara Ventures and a group of angel and individual investors—bringing the project to over $3 million in total funding to date—the app is launching with more than 6,000 users who are already on the waiting list.
Stack plans to use the capital infusion to increase its headcount from eight to 10 this year, as well as obtain more financial licenses and expand its offerings, such as continuing to build out its app and high school-focused financial literacy program.
Rush said the company would undergo “a more thoughtful overhaul of its educational content,” creating compelling financial content optimized for popular platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
“We need a big boost to make it relevant to teenagers and looking at educational topics like NFT, metaverse and Web3,” he said. “We aim to be the trusted account to democratize investing for young people.”
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