Lex vs a bank, an exchange, and a brokerage account
Lex is a self-custodial money and investing app. In Lex, the money you’ll need soon sits next to the investments you plan to hold for years, instead of being split across a bank, an exchange, and a brokerage.
The table describes how each kind of product generally works, not any one company, and lists them in a fixed order: bank, exchange, brokerage account, then Lex.
| What to compare | Bank | Exchange | Brokerage account | Lex |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who holds the assets | The bank. Your balance is a deposit. | The exchange holds customers’ assets and processes withdrawals on their behalf. | The broker holds shares for you as a shareholder. | You do. Only your passkey can approve a transaction from your Lex wallet; Lex has no signing access. |
| Deposit insurance | A deposit can be covered by deposit insurance such as the FDIC, IPAB, or FGC when the bank is covered. | None for digital assets, which are not bank deposits. | Shares are not bank deposits. Check the broker’s custody arrangements. | None. Your assets are not bank deposits and are not covered by deposit insurance. |
| What you hold | Money in an account, in local currency or, where local rules allow it, in dollars. | Digital assets. The balance you see is typically the platform’s record of what it owes you. | Ordinary shares and funds. | Stablecoins that track currencies, tokenized stocks, and government bond tokens, recorded on a blockchain. |
| Shares and shareholder rights | Does not apply. | Depends on the asset. | Shares are held for you as a shareholder. | Tokenized stocks are digital assets, not shares held in a brokerage account. What a holder can claim is set by the issuer’s documents. |
| Branches, cards, and cash | Usually, depending on the bank. | Depends on the exchange. | Depends on the broker. | Lex has no branches, no card, and no cash-pickup network. |
| Options, futures, leverage, and copy trading | Does not apply. | Some offer them. | Some offer options and futures, or copy other investors’ trades automatically. | Lex has none of them. It is designed for steady saving and investing. |
| Who can use it | Depends on each country’s rules and on the bank. | Depends on the exchange and your country. | Not every broker accepts residents of every country. | Available across the Americas. Bank transfers require identity verification, and tokenized stocks are available only to adults who are not US persons and are outside the United States. |
What Lex lacks
A bank, an exchange, and a brokerage each do things that Lex does not.
No deposit insurance
Your assets in Lex are not bank deposits and are not covered by deposit insurance such as the FDIC, IPAB, or FGC. Self-custody is not deposit insurance or a guarantee about every legal or insolvency outcome.
No one can restore your access for you
Custodial platforms can offer convenient account recovery. In Lex, recovery uses your email and phone, and if you lose your passkey and every recovery method, Lex cannot recover your assets.
Tokenized stocks are not shares
An account with a US broker gives you ordinary shares and the full range of listed companies and funds. A tokenized stock is a token from an issuer that tracks the price of a share. You add issuer risk on top of company risk, and prices come from liquidity pools that can be thinner when the US market is closed.
No branches, card, or cash pickup
Lex is an app. It has no branches and no card, and its current transfer flows do not establish a cash-pickup network.
A limit on each order
Buys start at $5, with up to $1,000 per order.
This page compares no prices: a fair numerical claim needs dated, comparable quotes. These are Lex’s own fees.
| What you do | Lex fee | Other costs and limits |
|---|---|---|
| Download the app | Free | No subscription and no in-app purchases. |
| Buy, sell, or convert | No Lex fee | The quoted price includes liquidity-pool fees and price impact. Network fees are currently covered by Lex. Buys start at $5, with up to $1,000 per order. |
| Bank transfer through Bridge, in or out: US dollars (ACH or wire), euros (SEPA), or British pounds (Faster Payments) | 0.25% | Plus any fees from the bank-transfer provider and any currency conversion. |
| SPEI in Mexico, Pix in Brazil, and bank transfers in Argentina | Shown in the app for your account before you confirm | Check the app for the provider, the asset received, limits, and timing. |
| Ask Lex | No charge | 100 credits each month. Each answer uses some of them, and they renew on the first of the month. |
Start at your own pace.
Keep what you’ll need soon within reach, invest what you won’t need for years, and add to it over time.
iOS
Open the link on your iPhone. Install Apple’s TestFlight app if prompted, then accept the Lex beta invitation and tap Install.
Get the iOS betaAndroid
Download Lex free from Google Play.
Scan to get Lex on your phone
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