The world is on the cusp of a financial revolution fueled by crypto-currencies and Balance makes it easy for anyone to get involved. You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, one of the earliest crypto-currencies, but there are others including Ethereum. Balance connects to the most popular crypto-currency exchanges like Coinbase along with traditional financial institutions bridging the legacy financial world with the future.

Balance is a macOS app that sits in your menu bar and is available on the Mac App Store that connects with crypto-currency exchanges as well as traditional bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, and online services like PayPal. It does this using Plaid, a super-secure platform that interfaces with financial institutions around the world.

Once you set up accounts in Balance, the app automatically updates them periodically with new transactions, so you’re always up to date. You can click through its tabs to view balances, transactions, notifications and gain insights about your spending. Soon, Balance will release an iOS version of their app too.

Balance is ready for the future too. The current financial system is based on outdated, legacy software. Blockchains are the bedrock of a more secure and open financial system based on cryptocurrencies, but not many people are using them yet. Balance is poised to change that by becoming a single destination for traditional financial accounts and crypto-currency exchanges.

Balance has a great offer for MacStories readers who want to see what crypto-currencies are all about. Just go to bal.money/macstories and you’ll get $2 worth of Ether in a Coinbase account that you can link to Balance and track with its menu bar app. It’s a great way to see for yourself what the financial world’s future looks like.

Our thanks to Balance for sponsoring MacStories this week.