*By Tanaya Macheel and Jacqueline Corba* Crypto start-up Compound launched money markets for Ethereum assets on Thursday. "This allows pretty much anybody, anywhere in the world at anytime to earn interest on their Ethereum assets with a secure protocol," Compound co-Founder and CEO Robert Leshner told Cheddar's Crypto Craze. "So if you hold Ether, if you hold a series of tokens that we're supporting, there's incremental returns." Leshner said this open source protocol is built on Ethereum, and everything is managed directly through a smart contract. Compound's product initially supports Ether, 0x Protocol, Basic Attention Token, and Augur. And the company's ultimate goal is to create an easy-to-use money market for investors looking to tap into this emerging market. Crypto giant Coinbase participated in Compound's $8.2 million seed funding round back in May. "I believe they invested, because Compound fits in with their vision of opening up access to finance to pretty much everybody around the world," Leshner said. Other investors in the company include Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain Capital, and Bain Capital Ventures. For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/compound-launches-money-markets-for-ethereum-assets).
