Brave New World: the finance
revolution with a social Impact
Brazilian entrepreneur Taynaah Reis is the symbol of a revolution with her startup Moeda Seeds: financing with a social impact using blockchain technology.
By Gabriel Rubinsteinn
Published on: 01/20/2022 at 05:21 am Amended on: 01/20/2022 at 06:54 am access_time Reading time: 6 min
Technology has always been a part of Taynaah Reis’ life. After getting her
first computer at the age of 1 and becoming a self-taught programmer at
12, she became a global authority on decentralized finance, a shining
example of a generation that grew up with the internet and uses technology
to help change the world around them. Her tool? Moeda Seeds, a startup
she created at the age of 29 in 2017, and of which she is the CEO. It’s
tough to put the company into any of the traditional definitions: it’s a mix of
a fintech, accelerator, cryptocurrency brokerage, marketplace and even a
school. And this is just scratching the surface of their ambitious plans.
“My father is my great inspiration, and he helped to devise Pronaf
[Programa Nacional de Fortalecimento da Agricultura Familiar, or the
Brazilian National Program for Strengthening Family Farming]. I saw how
difficult his work could be. For example, women have always found it hard
to gain access to credit. I’d constantly tell my father that I’d do it differently,
that women would be able to receive credit sooner, that the fees would be
lower and that technology would make the processes transparent,” Reis
explained in an interview with EXAME. These days, Moeda Seeds offers
microcredit and connects investors with small-scale producers who
spearhead social impact projects, particularly women from rural areas and
working-class suburbs in Brazil. And there’s even more.
Reis is at the frontline of innovation through her use of blockchain
technology: the same technology that powers popular cryptocurrencies like
bitcoin and which extends so well beyond the prospect of exorbitant profits
for those investing in digital assets that few people know what they are really for. NFTs, the “tokenization” of real-world goods and assets,
document scanning, automation of contracts, intermediary-free financial
transactions and services, traceability, transparency… Blockchain
technology has a plethora of applications, as will be seen in the
forthcoming pages of t his Future of Money special.
Moeda Seeds dates back to 2016, when Reis was providing consulting
services to the United Nations (UN) on matters related to sustainable
development. At that time, she had the opportunity to organize a hackathon
- a sort of competitive challenge between programmers. Reis recalls, “The
theme of hackathon was how blockchain can transform the lives of
cooperatives and female farmers in Brazil and in developing countries to
help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.”
After the hackathon, Reis joined the two winners — one from China and the
other from South Korea — and then created Moeda Seeds. They launched
the company through an ICO (Initial Coin Offering), the blockchain version
of IPOs on stock exchanges. At that time, they created a cryptocurrency
that represented participation in the project and then offered it up for sale.
Reis states that they attracted around 800 investors, mainly from China and
between the ages of 20 and 28, who collectively have invested US$20
million. The project was ready to take off.
Today, with MoedaPay, Moeda’s banking platform, beneficiaries can
receive credit and use it through a single tool. Funds are sent using a
stable value cryptocurrency (known as stablecoins) created by Moeda
Seeds and backed in Brazilian reais, which makes each cryptocurrency unit
worth 1 real, without the volatility of assets like bitcoin. Using blockchain
technology, all transactions are traceable. This ensures transparency when
using funds and increases the security of investors.
But MoedaPay is not just for entrepreneurs looking for a source of credit. It
can also be used by anyone as a bank account. “We offer everything that a
‘traditional’ fintech does: bill payments, bank payments, transfers, Pix (rapid
money transfers in Brazil)… There’s also the crypto part. For example, it’s
possible to invest in açaí and coffee NFTs. These are assets that are
different from those offered by a traditional bank, because we see a
demand by the younger generation for unique and purposeful assets,” the CEO explained. MoedaPay users also have the option to invest in projects
that are incubated by the platform and whose selection criteria is related to
social impact, environmental preservation, location in rural areas or urban
zones, and preferably run by women.
A producer supported by Moeda in the Cajuína São João project: the fintech provides access to financing with lower costs than what’s found in the traditional financial system (Publicity)
Credit for the microentrepreneurs that are assisted does not just come from
collaborators, but from the platform itself and from other investors. To
ensure that the money is properly applied, Moeda also focuses on
education: “We realized that money without financial education doesn’t
work. The first thing beneficiaries did was make mistakes like paying debts
and overdue bills. Because of this, we created the MoedaAcademy,” said
Reis. Producers applying for credit need to take courses before they are
granted access to financing. Because the producers being assisted are
from rural areas or other regions with immense educational and financial
shortcomings, MoedaAcademy also offers courses and content on
business, the use of the platform, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, and a
number of other relevant topics.
Reis’ scenario is illustrative of a changing environment where innovations
are no longer part of a futuristic scenario: new technologies are already
having an impact on the world, Brazil and communities far beyond the
microcosm of Faria Lima (an important commercial and financial area of
São Paulo). Blockchain is an essential part of this process, which has
digital currencies at the epicenter. Not just cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but
the overall digitization of money, something Brazil has recently experienced
with the Central Bank’s rapid payment system known as Pix and, soon, with
the “digital real”. New business models, such as those of fintechs, are
already reaching grand scales. Reis is incisive on the importance of
blockchain technology for the growth of Moeda Seeds: “We wouldn’t be
able to do what we’re doing: calculate the social and environmental impact
of each transaction, offer an incentive program using cryptocurrency and
NFTs, provide credit to people with poor or no credit, create an interactiveplatform with gamification, offer financial services to those who are on the fringes of the traditional system.”
In 2019, the company gained a major partner. Through an agreement with
Mastercard, MoedaPay introduced a card for its users, who can use
stablecoin, bitcoin, or even Brazilian reais from their account with a
conventional card — including making withdrawals at ATMs. The
partnership has worked out so well that MoedaPay has been part of “Start
Path” since 2021, the payments giant’s startup acceleration program. It was
the only Brazilian company selected. Reis tells that the next steps are to
expand the reach of Moeda. “We have infrastructure to gain scale both in
Brazil — where we have 100,000 active users — and in other countries. We
now feel ready to make remittances with cryptocurrencies and use them as
collateral for loans. And also begin offering lines of credit.” The plan may
seem daring, but the positive impact already made by Moeda Seeds and
new technologies is proof that boundaries are being redefined.
Link: https://exame.com/revista-exame/admiravel-mundo-novo-3/
