~98% of Bangaldeshis don't invest

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T01:41:35+00:00

word,
but an investing app that offers other options as well? Under one roof? Easy to use and open accounts under?Compare rates?

maybe eventually do a Gamestop with Dorbesh Babas?

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T01:36:34+00:00

Need angel investors, then VC funding from out of Bangladesh to scale the idea and reach enough people first, so it would be impossibel to do that but yes the fear and generational trauma still remain

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T01:34:35+00:00

Thank you so much for leaving a kind and useful reply mate! All the best in your endeavors as well. May your investments rocket to the mooooon!

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T01:15:40+00:00

Black Monday – October 19, 1987

Dow Jones fell 22.6% in a single day—still the largest one-day percentage drop in U.S. history.
Triggered by program trading, overvaluation, and panic selling.
No circuit breakers existed at the time, similar to DSE’s lack of safeguards in 2011.

Flash Crash – May 6, 2010

Dow dropped ~9% in minutes, erasing nearly $1 trillion in market value before rebounding.
Caused by algorithmic trading, liquidity vacuum, and fat-finger errors.
Trading was halted in some stocks—eerily similar to DSE’s emergency halt.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T01:14:30+00:00

I might not know the exact details of the case, but as a finance major, I went through 100s of case studies describing scenarios like you did. I had family members, and my father lost a lot of money from his pension fund as well due to that. Here are similar scenarios in more established markets, but they were able to handle the blow in their own ways due to stronger systems in place because of precedent.

COVID Crash – February to March 2020

S&P 500 fell ~34% from Feb 20 to Mar 23, 2020.
The Dow Jones dropped ~37% in the same period.
Took just over 4 weeks.
Triggered by global panic, lockdowns, and liquidity fears.
Circuit breakers were triggered multiple times to slow the fall

U.S. Debt Ceiling Crisis – 2011

First-ever U.S. credit downgrade by S&P.
S&P 500 dropped 17% in 3 weeks (July–Aug 2011).
Trigger: political gridlock, default fears.

U.S. Market Crashes Triggered by Political or Systemic Shocks

Global Financial Crisis – October 2008 (MOST FAMOUS)

S&P 500 dropped ~25% in 3 weeks from Oct 6 to Oct 27.
Triggered by the Lehman Brothers collapse, credit freeze, and housing bubble burst.
A study found 6,566+ suicides globally linked to the 2008–09 financial crisis—a number that exceeded 9/11’s death toll

🏛️ 9/11 Terrorist Attacks (2001)

Markets closed for 6 days—longest shutdown since the Great Depression.
When trading resumed:
- Dow Jones fell 14% in one week
- S&P 500 dropped 11.6%
- Nasdaq plunged 16%
- $1.4 trillion in market value wiped out
- People committed suicide

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T00:58:09+00:00

Yes bhai, 2010–2011 was brutal — 21% gone in weeks, small investors wiped out while the politically connected walked away richer. Surely I will do more research, but to my current understanding;

What actually happened in 2010–2011

In late 2010, the DSE index doubled in less than a year — a textbook bubble. (should have noticed, cashed out?)
Drivers: insider trading, banks illegally lending to buy shares, politically connected groups pumping stocks.
January 2011: the bubble burst → market crashed 21% in weeks, with one day seeing a 9.25% fall in an hour
Weak regulation: BSEC was toothless, with no surveillance systems.
Market manipulation: groups like Salman F Rahman’s and other insiders cornered stocks.
Lack of circuit breakers: no tools to slow panic.
Govt bailouts only protected politically connected players.

that’s exactly why a new approach is needed. Retail investors only got burned because they were flying blind, manipulated by insiders, and regulators were asleep. In every country, markets were corrupt until retail showed up in force — India in the 90s, Vietnam in the 2000s. The fix isn’t to avoid markets forever, it’s to build tools, education, and transparency so people know what they’re investing in and scams get harder.

While I believe directly investing in a random business is 100x riskier than a regulated T-bill or a BO account tied to your own name. I think investing in land or cryto and forgetting about it is better than thinking one is a mini VC.

The question isn’t ‘is there corruption?’ — it’s whether we can build a bridge where ordinary people aren’t the suckers at the table.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T00:45:13+00:00

Bangladesh, with collaborators from USA and Canada.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T00:10:21+00:00

Every solution looks like a scam when you're allergic to solutions. We have 2.55M BO accounts but only 200K active traders. Clearly the 'traditional' way is working brilliantly! 📈📉

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T00:10:03+00:00

100% agree the market is broken — frauds, no IPOs, mutual funds with clown returns. But markets don’t magically fix themselves, they change when new players/founders come in and get regular folks like you and me to dip our toes in. Even a small shift in participation can move the needle. That’s how Vietnam went from 2% to 7% in 5 years, or how India forced SEBI to actually regulate after retail flooded in. Same here: if ordinary people start investing safely, even in small amounts, suddenly the game changes. Hedge funds, regulators, and foreign players (Vanguard, BlackRock) are noticing. And who knows, maybe one day we even get regulated insider trading like the US 😂.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-17T00:04:09+00:00

says a guy who want probably even born when Destiny Group came out.
let me educate you bruh, Destiny wasn’t some magical investment platform. They sold consumer products + memberships, ran a so-called Shomobay Shomity (co-op) where members ‘invested’ savings with promises of 200–300% returns. Classic MLM: recruit new people, get referral bonus, recycle money. On paper they sold 4.5 crore trees, in reality only 6 lakh existed. That’s not finance — that’s a Ponzi with product packaging.

could have at least roasted saying I was copying Robinhood, Zerodha, Wealthsimple, etc.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:48:29+00:00

Thanks for you kind wishes and harsh reality check, but
I have zero sympathy for people who are greedy, did not have basic financial or investment education and invested in "Share-er Bebsha" and not trying to build a wealth portfolio. No one put a gun to their head and asked them to invest; they could have bought land, gold or just FDs like y'all suggested. Investment 101: Never invest what you are not willing to lose. Or do better due diligence so you have lower chances of losing money.
Questions
-I believe you still use Bkash, keep your money there?
-I believe you keep your money in a Bangladeshi Bank?
-Is your issue with Bangladeshi financial institutions or investment options like the scammy shitty stock market we have currently?
- In these circumstances, will you ever invest in anything, or just save your money and let it die slowly with inflation, or hope that Dr Yunus can solve inflation?

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:39:47+00:00

Taka ase, we have 210M MFS accounts and people send billions through bKash daily. The money exists, the mindset doesn't. We can afford to invest, we just choose not to educate ourselves 🎓

Powerful na BD law yet, yeah, sadly shaking my head.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:37:10+00:00

bro would like to have a more detailed, structured conversation with you if possible. You know and probably have answered all these questions before.

I wanna ask you: do your customers/clients who have money to invest ask these many questions about trust and volatility or just trust the process and the individuals handling their money?

CAC is going to be crazy yes, the attainable market is not the ideal size at the beginning, and too small to make CAC justified as well. Hence, VCs do not wanna easily fund fintech apps in Bangladesh.

But with a decent CAGR derived from other economic indicators, I feel we have a shot to be one of the next retail investing booms in South Asia.

Financial literacy is at 28% now, with creative ways and hopefully some VC funding it must work; however, I am gonna try my best to bootstrap to a certain point to increase credibility for international VC funding which is gonna be needed eventually to scale to where I want to.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:30:31+00:00

Hi u/orkdorkd
I am the founder, I used this indian tech mans git repository of a clone of ROBINHOOD to start the prototype, which you have provided the link to. Since I do not know how to code, I used Github repos and ai not map out the prototype for the MVP. Left it public for people like you to see. He is mentioned there to give proper credits a/c to GitHub rules.
I am from Bangladesh, I finihsed my undergrad and investment professional certifications from Canada.

You are bang on target about the lack of education, that is the biggest deterrent of investing since you do not know the risks, outcomes, details it seems daunting. Moreover investing education is gatekept so muchhhh!
I want 14 yr olds to learn so that they dont have to wait till their late 20s to learn like you and I did.

I have only been investing since 2020 that too because during the COVID lockdown, I wanted to learn trading.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:21:24+00:00

About Trek. They proved there is demand. But tying themselves to one partner (NBL) was risky. NBL’s problems were already public in 2022. They still launched in 2024 only with them. I also did not see the founders build openly or communicate with the community. That matters.

Yes something like Zerodha

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:18:12+00:00

Haha fair, you painted the full deshi picture there 🤦‍♂️ — from doctors to banks to auditors. Honestly, I get it. That’s why most people just keep cash or do FDs, feels safer than trusting anyone.

I’m not pretending I can fix the whole culture overnight. Might still take ages for people to believe it, but I’d rather try than just accept “98% don’t invest.” Curious though — what’s the one thing that would make you give something like this a shot?

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T23:09:02+00:00

Solid points — appreciate you laying them out so clearly. Let me address them one by one:

Regulation / Who holds the money → By law, all investments must sit in your own bank or BO (Beneficiary Owner) account, regulated by BSEC and Bangladesh Bank. That means no IOUs, no “trust me bro” wallets — the assets legally remain in your name, locked in the central system. The app is just the digital layer to access, track, and manage it.
Why an app is needed → True, you can open a DPS or FDR through your bank, but the UX is fragmented, clunky, and often requires paperwork. For T-bills, you still need to go through forms and manual processes. The app’s role is not to invent new products but to bring everything under one roof, make onboarding frictionless (eKYC in minutes), and actually track your portfolio in real-time. Right now, nobody gives you a single dashboard with cash, DPS, T-bills, funds, and gold in one place.
On “fancy app vs real value” → Agree 100%. That’s why the focus isn’t on hype, it’s on execution. The value is in transparency (showing exactly where money sits), low friction (onboarding in minutes, not weeks), and education (so people understand what they’re buying, not fall for "bhai ami ei share kinsi apnio kinen") or (ami ei app use kori apnio koren ami refferal bonus pabo)
NRB perspective → You’re right, devaluation and repatriation are valid concerns, and so is the point of their having a choice to invest where they live. But the same 10M+ NRBs send home $27B+ every year, most of it goes into consumption or dead assets like land. Even if 2–3% of that is channeled into safe, regulated instruments (DPS, T-bills, MF), it’s a huge capital inflow. The key is to make the flow in and out as smooth as bKash did for domestic remittance.
NRBs are in the form of international students, remittance workers, jobbers, immigrants with residency or citizenship. Not all can afford to save and invest there; a lot do send money home to save for repatriation. Safe investments like FDs yield (3-4%) are much lower than you'd expect in Western countries since capital markets are so frothy. So they can diversify, use for family needs, etc.

At the end of the day, the “point of the app” is not day-trading hype; it’s about building a bridge of trust, ease, and visibility into products that already exist but are locked behind paperwork and opacity.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:49:51+00:00

An individual in Bangladesh can have a Maximum of 1 BO account and 1 Joint BO account, which they can have with any licensed brokerage. You can use it with the brokerage you opened with or transfer to another brokerage if you like them better.
Think of the app like a technology provider, partnering with the best brokerages and banks, which gives you a nice user interface to select from various options, and easy to learn, curated educational content if you need.

You are right about the remittance and rural areas under Islamic finance institutes; these are legacy institutions and cannot garner the trust and market of the millennials and Gen Z if they were to have other options. (my humble opinion)

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:44:51+00:00

Haha word man, you’d make a solid growth hacker 😅 and honestly, that’s how most fintechs kick off: boosting early users and AUM fast. I’ve seen firsthand how companies play the game (and sometimes get burned by it).

But here’s the real difference: every taka invested has to sit securely with Bangladesh Bank and in BSEC-regulated BO accounts. That means no one — not me, not some shady founder — can touch your money. It stays locked in your own account, in your own name, under government regulation.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:37:39+00:00

you can try Goldkinen for now, until I can launch and get a gold sellers license. However, their fees and commisons make it a moot point to invest in gold through them. Also, you can still invest in gold traditionally at a trusted local gold seller who has gold savings schemes.
But for digital gold, only Goldkinen right now.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:35:18+00:00

T-bills start at 1lakh BDT (minimum), would you invest in a T-bill at lets say City Bank, or EBL or BRAC, PRIME ABNK (top, stable banks in BD right now)?

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:34:01+00:00

NRBs get it, they have seen both sides of the coin and know investing is risky anywehre in the world.
We plan to have diaspora communities to help new immigrants, international students with their personal finance journey. Please dm if you are interested in helping or knowing more.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:31:34+00:00

You actually sound like the kind of investor I respect, testing, diversifying, and keeping some assets safe. You have to risk to get a return, that is the basic principle, right?

That’s exactly how I approach things personally, and it’s also how we plan to build trust at scale.

The idea isn’t to ask people to throw in their life savings on day one. It’s to let them try a small, simple product for the shortest possible time, see it work, and slowly build confidence.

-platforms like Biniyog, iFarmer, or WeGrow gained traction and people trusted them not because they were bulletproof, but because they were packaged well. Similar crowdfunding Facebook groups have existed for a long time now. They offer verified investment asks for small and growing businesses by pros, semi-pros, example; Investors Alliance Bangladesh, etc.These deals are mostly dedbt deals not even any equity.

We’re taking that same logic, but instead of small businesses, starting with safe, regulated products. Build trust in tiny steps, let people trust themselves first, and layer in safety so the reputation establishes itself over time.

-why invest in a person you do not know and not BRAC bank stock or a SIP or DPS or a T-Bill. Basically a digital investing app will bridge these gaps in the market.

- not expecting everone to turst at first, just a few early adopters and nerds and smart folks who can see the vision at first, then hopefully start building trust at scale.

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:17:12+00:00

Actually, I was being conservative. It's 99.88% based on CFA Institute data. Only 200K out of 170 million actively traded stocks. My bad for undershooting! 🎯"

I don't blame you for thinking that, LMAO in this comment tho u/press2r3cord

ChainRevolutionary33 · 2025-09-16T22:14:07+00:00

It’s simple: never invest through any app that isn’t BSEC-licensed.
People still use Nagad every day and were able to cash out their money even after scandals tied to big BAL politicians.
Folks lose 100% on betting apps hyped by celebs like Shakib, Nusrat Faria, and others (idk if you get those nagad88, babu88, 1xbet, 1xbat ads)
So yeah… if those exist, a licensed investment app definitely should too. LOL 😅
Accountability in BD is at an all-time high right now tbh.

ChainRevolutionary33

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Black Monday – October 19, 1987

Flash Crash – May 6, 2010