This post originally appeared on the Nexus Louisiana Tech Park blog.
he rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrency can be challenging for investors to decipher. Prysm Capital Investments wants to change that. Founded by recent Louisiana State University grads, the New Orleans company aims to make Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies more accessible to individual investors by managing portfolios for them.
In June, the early-stage company received $3,000 in reimbursable funding through the Nexus Louisiana’s Ignition accelerator program to invest in client services and conduct market research.
“Ignition offered us so much amazing information, and it was an invaluable experience with mentors that were the best in the state,” says Prysm Co-Founder and CFO Blair Elise Aguda. “We received so much exposure to other opportunities and built a tight bond with the other founders in the program.”
Building a Better Way to Invest
Prysm Co-Founders Ray Eaglin and Ben Hackney have been friends since childhood. Aguda met Eaglin in her business classes at LSU, who developed the idea of direct-to-consumer managed portfolios of cryptocurrency.
At Prysm, they have a clear mission – to create a more diverse and accessible way to invest in cryptocurrency. By offering direct-to-consumer portfolio management services to underserved communities in Louisiana and across the country, the company wants to aid in the adoption, development, and maturation of crypto investment opportunities.
Currently, to buy cryptocurrency, people need to pick a broker or a crypto exchange, which is no small feat given that there are dozens of popular ones to choose from.
1. Exchanges, such as Binance.US, Coinbase and Gemini, are platforms where buyers and sellers meet to trade cryptocurrencies. They may have relatively low fees, but their complexity can be intimidating for new investors.
2. Brokers, such as Robinhood and SoFi, have easy-to-use interfaces, but fees can range widely depending on the broker selected and the account size.
Once investors choose either an exchange or broker, they must then figure out how to buy the more than 6,000 cryptocurrencies available and how they will store the crypto they buy.
Prysm wants to simplify the process by creating managed portfolios with various cryptocurrencies based on investors’ goals and risk tolerances, Aguda says.