Australian fintech Douugh (ASX:DOU) will begin offering a crypto deposit product this year in both the United States and Australia that will offer yields far better than those available at traditional banking institutions, its chief executive says.

“We (are) all in now on Web 3.0,” founder and CEO Andy Taylor told Stockhead in a text message, using another term for crypto.

The company plans to use the stablecoin USDC and crypto borrowing and savings protocol Compound, at least initially, to offer deposit rates of more than three per cent, said Taylor, noting that’s about 100x better than the rates available for deposits at US banks.

“I think it’s going to be a big year for DeFi (decentralised finance) specifically,” Taylor told Stockhead by phone. “I think you’re going to see quite a big change this year, a lot of consolidation happening and a lot of movements in this year.”

Douugh said in an update on Monday it had 80,533 customers across the US and Australia as of December 31, nearly quadruple the 21,119 customers it had at the same time at the end of 2020.

Customer deposits totalled $22 million, up 4,616 per cent year on year.

Taylor said Douugh’s users aren’t “highly tech-savvy crypto customers” and the company’s job is to offer them an easy-to-use product with low volatility.

“We can hide all that complexity and hopefully take it mainstream – and I think that’s the brand we want to be, demystifying, keeping it simple, and giving customers all the comfort and some basic knowledge without getting them overwhelmed.”

Douugh’s custodian partner Zero Hash will be facilitating the conversion between fiat and crypto.

Taylor said most of Douugh’s competitors are focused on letting users buy, hold and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum. “This is much more our brand for us – the key is just demystifying, giving them comfort around the stability that they’ll earn… we need to bring a bit more peace of mind for our customers, and I think this is a really good place to start them on.”

Finder.com.au in November did roll out a somewhat similar product, Finder Earn.

Compound on Monday was offering 2.89 per cent return on USDC deposits, but its Compound Treasury offers 4.0 per cent returns for accredited institutional investors.

The product is expected to roll out in the United States in the coming months and in Australia mid-year, Taylor said.

Douugh is also focused on becoming a “super app”, with more investing features coming to it over time. The company also plans to expand from Compound in future.

DOU shares closed Monday at 6.9c, up 3.0 per cent from Friday.