Ever wondered how Venmo, Cash App, Coinbase, and other fintech apps work behind the scenes? Rehive is the ledger system and application layer on top of the fintech stack. It is designed to be open, flexible, and easy to integrate with any on/off ramp, custody partner, compliance provider, brokerage service, and more.

In most cases when you’re creating a fintech app it is not always possible to build everything directly on underlying providers. These systems weren’t designed to easily build on top off. It is often necessary to create a middleware layer to abstract existing payment networks, banking products, and/or niche service providers.

Businesses can either build a many-to-one (aka omnibus accounts) layer on top of an existing system or map accounts one-to-one (aka segregated accounts). Many-to-one architecture means that the sum of all the user balances in the system is mapped back to a treasury or custodian account, e.g. a bank. Whereas a one-to-one architecture will directly map all balances and transactions on both systems. It is not always necessary to create a middle layer for a one-to-one architecture, but it limits customizability and speed to innovate while keeping management processes clean. Read more about cash-in and cash-out here.

Venmo, Coinbase, Paypal, Robinhood, Acorns, etc. had to build their own ledger and user management system to support their niche features like sending to an email address, tracking investments, recording savings, etc. The diagram below highlights how Rehive slots in on top of the underlying fintech stack, whether Banking-as-a-Service, direct bank partners, compliance providers, etc.

Read more on our blog to explore the full fintech stack.

In summary: