2021 has been great for crypto. An exceedingly large proportion of users are not only interested in cryptocurrency, but have already invested considerable sums in crypto. The concept is now, more than ever, seen as a legitimate asset class. While previously confined to a niche market that primarily consisted of tech enthusiasts, the market now sees far more diversity as more people from non-technical and non-financial backgrounds enter the field.
Having said that, the world of crypto remains mostly an enigma to more than half of the population. While some are well equipped with the fundamentals of blockchain and cryptocurrency, many are still clueless.
And of course, what’s not really changed is that the crypto field yet remains largely unregulated. Challenges like cyber-attacks on exchanges, a lack of regulation on custody of assets, complicated interfaces, and lack of good on-ramps and off-ramps cripple the industry’s credibility.
It was in the light of this scenario that Miles Paschini and Nitin Agarwal founded B21, a platform that aims to make the world of crypto and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) easier and accessible for the people by solving these very fundamental challenges. To paraphrase their description – just like how web browsers made it easy to use the internet, satellite TV made it easy to have a great television experience, and Gmail transformed the world of email communication, B21 is here to enable easy crypto investments for the next 100 million people.
Source: Deutsche Bank
Whether you want to earn, invest in, or spend crypto, B21 is the place for you.
The first step in getting started in crypto is obviously to buy cryptocurrency via on-ramp channels, which means exchanging your fiat currency for a cryptocurrency. And as for exiting your investments, you will do an off-ramp, where you exchange cryptocurrency or digital assets for fiat currency.
The key to solving adoption challenges for a concept like crypto lies in enabling some core uses cases – investing, earning, and spending. B21 aims to tackle all three via a suite of products that allow sophisticated, yet simplified portfolio management, passive income, and expense channels. They’re unsurprisingly named B21 Crypto: Invest | Earn | Spend.
With that context, let’s explore B21 Invest.
B21 Invest
Thanks to B21, on-ramp and off-ramp are now easier than ever. The platform supports multiple payment methods like credit cards, debit cards, bank transactions, ACH (for the US) UPI and NEFT (for its Indian audience), etc.
Users can create their personal crypto portfolios and re-balance them anytime. Regardless of ticket size, the platform certainly makes it easier to settle the transaction within seconds. There are also several reward programs and a referral program tightly integrated within the platform.
B21 Earn | Celsius Partnership
Source: B21
B21 recently made a big announcement on its partnership with the crypto lender brand Celsius. With Celsius now integrated within the B21 platform, users can now stake their entire crypto portfolio in one click, making them earn staking rewards on their deposits.
With this, B21 also takes its first step to simplify popular (and complex) DeFi products in an attempt to eliminate barriers to entry for new users. With “one-click staking” B21 is exposing millions of people to DeFi by making staking of the entire crypto portfolio accessible to everyone.
B21 Spend: The World’s first crypto Credit Card
B21 aims to be a wholesome platform with Invest, Earn and Spend features. When it comes to spending, B21 does make a commendable attempt to stand apart from the rest. The brand has been the first crypto platform to launch the world’s first secured crypto credit card. B21 cards are available in more than 82 countries with a major focus on the Asian market… The B21 card is much more widely accepted than the current crypto prepaid cards in the market, and can be used at all online and offline stores, POS machines, car rentals, hotel payments, in-flight meals and to even withdraw cash! Isn’t that the kind of adoption most of us maximalists have hoped for? It’s finally here.
The credit cards have already enjoyed a very successful trial run in the Asian market, and there is certainly increasing global hype over these cards. It’s certainly an advantage that Miles and Nitin are credited with the invention of crypto-linked cards in 2014.
The B21 Token
Branded tokens have been overdone to the point of being a candidate for parodies in the crypto-world. Even from afar, it’s easy to see that most of these tokens are akin to loyalty points. The B21 token is different though. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that it’s one step ahead – it supports multiple blockchains.
Currently, the token is integrated on Ethereum and Binance Smart Chain with an easy-to-use bridge, but will soon be integrated on other blockchains including Polygon, Polkadot, Solana without changing its total or its circulating supply! This essentially means that the total number of tokens in the market remains constant.
In terms of performance, the B21 token has had an exceptional 2021 so far. Starting at $0.03 this New Year’s, the token has already been trading at highs of $0.43 in May with its all-time high being $0.55. Those are 14x returns achieved in less than 2 quarters!
This rapid appreciation has both been followed by (and induced) listings on major exchanges. Currently, B21 is listed on Bitfinex, Unsiwap, Pancakeswap, and Hotbit with plans to list on many more cryptocurrency exchanges worldwide.
Looking forward
There’s no denying that B21 is making huge strides as it welcomes new users to the platform – several of them entirely new to cryptocurrencies. Customer satisfaction does seem to be a priority, evident in its recent decision to decrease withdrawal fees for its Indian users from $25 to only $2, upon the huge demand.
B21 is also making several exciting strategic alliances with industry leaders, and only recently, they announced a partnership with Celsius. The brand is also exploring the NFT field, and this is certainly something to look forward to. If you’re interested to learn more about B21, check them out on their website, on Twitter, Medium, or Telegram.
Disclaimer: This is a paid post and should not be treated as news/advice
