Structure

Structure.fi is a financial technology company that operates a mobile-first platform designed to increase global access to both traditional and decentralized financial markets. The company was founded in 2020 by Bryan Hernandez and Bryan Sun, both of whom have backgrounds from MIT and Jump Trading. Hernandez, the president and co-founder, previously founded Sonar Trading, an algorithmic cryptocurrency trading firm, and has a background in computational biology from MIT and Harvard. The company's mission was influenced by the 2008 financial crisis, aiming to address the shortcomings of the traditional financial industry that exclude many everyday investors.

The firm's core business revolves around the tokenization of real-world assets, allowing users to invest in and trade a wide array of instruments, including stocks, ETFs, and cryptocurrencies, on a 24/7 basis. This is achieved by creating digital tokens on a blockchain that are backed 1:1 by the actual underlying assets, which are held in custody by regulated third-party financial institutions. For instance, when a user purchases a tokenized stock of a company like Tesla, Structure.fi purchases the corresponding share on the open market to hold in trust. This model ensures that the token's value is economically tied to the underlying asset. The platform provides its services through a mobile application available on both iOS and Android, with a web application planned for the future.

Structure.fi primarily serves retail investors in emerging markets, with a particular focus on Latin America, where there is significant interest in cryptocurrency and a need for greater access to global financial services. The company has launched its platform in countries like El Salvador and Argentina. Its business model generates revenue through trading activities on the platform, although it offers zero-commission trading for tokenized assets traded via its mobile app. The platform is designed to be user-friendly, abstracting away the complexities of DeFi, such as gas costs and managing different trading pairs, to provide a seamless investment experience. In December 2021, Structure.fi raised $20 million in a seed funding round led by Polychain Capital, with participation from other investors including Bixin Ventures and Blockchain Coinvestors.

Keywords: tokenized assets, decentralized finance, mobile trading, crypto investing, stock tokenization, emerging markets, financial access, blockchain platform, asset-backed tokens, retail investing, DeFi for all, global finance, cryptocurrency trading, tokenized ETFs, financial inclusion, Bryan Hernandez, Bryan Sun, Polychain Capital, real-world asset tokenization, investment platform