Inside The Bentley Fund: The Internet’s Most Transparent $500,000 Crowdfunding Project

However, the impeccable design and perfect font of the webpage are overshadowed by the headline that boldly occupies the upper part of the page:

“I want a Bentley. Unfortunately, they cost money. This is where you come in.”

Meet The Bentley Fund: a fully voluntary and utterly unnecessary crypto-crowdfunding project that turns all the fundraising traditions of the internet upside down.

No Charity. No Equity. Only Absolute Transparency.

Any crowdfunding campaign usually attempts to sell you the story that will change your life for good. It will help you to build an artificial intelligence application, start a meme-coin, or create a documentary film. You will get some equity, early-bird tiers, and a promise of profit.

The Bentley Fund doesn’t offer you anything of that kind. As the manifesto of the project says:

“I don’t need a Bentley. I don’t deserve a Bentley. I just really want one. No charity. No sob story. No investment. Just the internet doing what the internet does best.”

The project accepts only USDC and guarantees nothing in return. It’s an insane and high-level social experiment which aims to answer one simple question: Can the combined power of the internet buy a totally random person a $500,000 luxury car?

Proof of Concept: Someone Really Did It

While asking some unknown people on the internet for half a million dollars sounds like a joke, the live counter proves that the internet is already participating in the process.

After getting the first 58 USDC from 4 brave participants, The Bentley Fund passed its “PROOF OF CONCEPT” stage. The people joining the campaign right now will be forever marked in blockchain as “Founding Enablers” — “a designation without any extra benefits except the historical significance of extremely questionable value,” as the creator said.

The Wall of Enablers of the website already contains funny small donations and comments of the backers such as “Good luck!” and “hahaha”.

An Insanely Honest Roadmap

The website provides an escalating roadmap that describes the process of going from the internet joke to real-life situation, as described in their plan:

• 1 USDC: Proof of Concept (Achieved: “Someone actually did it”)
  
• 1,000 USDC: Well, that escalated quickly (“This was supposed to be a joke”)
  
• 10,000 USDC: This has become a project (“Officially too much money involved for a spreadsheet not to exist”)
  
• 100,000 USDC: This is becoming concerning (“We start seriously researching the car”)
  
• 500,000 USDC: WE BUY THE BENTLEY. (“Yes. Actually”)
  

What if the things went totally crazy? Locked future goals include the 5,000,000 USDC Mansion (“The Bentley will eventually need somewhere nice to sleep”) and the 10,000,000 USDC Financial Freedom Fund (“Maintaining a Bentley and a mansion sounds exhausting”).

On-Chain Proof & The Verdict

In the “Don’t trust the counter. Verify it” section of the website, visitors have an opportunity to check the wallet address and verify every cent of the funds on the blockchain.

Why do people transfer their money? The Bentley Fund doesn’t sell anything but an exclusive chance to take part in an internet sensation.

As the final banner of the project states: “Worst case: nothing happens. Best case: Bentley.”