Ask HN: Is Seashell legit? Startup offering 10% interest

I think literally the only thing that's innovative about this company is how close they are willing to come to claiming to be a savings account when actually being a crypto fund. What's going on here is you're going to give Seashell $100, they're going to go and buy $100 of USDT and lend it to any old idiot who is stupid enough to trade crypto on margin. Then, the next time BTC crashes the idiot defaults and Seashell turns around to you and says "Sorry, that savings account you had with us technically isn't a savings account, you aren't protected from losses in any way all your money is gone". And the kicker? You're not even getting the upside!

It's innovative in they've found a way of giving you the returns of a moderately risky stock market investment whilst offering you the risk profile of playing in traffic.

There’s a fairly broad disclaimer at the bottom of the page:

“Disclaimer: Custody and settlement services are offered through Prime Trust, a Nevada trust bank. Seashell Financial Inc. ("Seashell"), a Delaware corporation, does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. Holdings of digital assets are speculative and involve a substantial degree of risk, including the risk of complete loss. There can be no assurance that any cryptocurrency, token, coin, or other digital asset will be viable, liquid, or solvent. No Seashell communication is intended to imply that any digital asset services are low-risk or risk-free. Seashell works hard to provide accurate information on this website, but cannot guarantee all content is correct, complete, or updated. Digital assets held in custody are not guaranteed by Seashell and are not FDIC-insured.”

Also, chances are you’ll have to sign something similar before signing up. I would think they probably get away with that.

Read the fine print. It's not a FDIC-insured account.

It's a crypto yield account that downplays the fact that it's crypto.

Do with that knowledge what you want.

For a legit investment broker, even with an Uber-like disregard for regulations, 10% is too good to be true. Either it is far less than 10%, normal returns minus what their greed demands, or they aren't legit.

Possibilities include a Ponzi scheme or the like (possibly on the VC funding side), brazenly lying or carefully almost-lying to customers, delusional leadership, investments in something illegal or ridiculously high risk. Most likely, they care for their stock and their exits rather than their customers.

The phrasing "up to 10%" is already sketchy. I mean literally 0% is also up to 10%.

If anyone had found a way to make 10% interest consistently, they would create a hedge fund, not a b2c company.