Sign up and you’ll live longer — maybe

As new blockchain company MyCrypto mulled what benefits to offer employees, it asked them what they wanted. “Surprisingly, we found that the traditional health benefits and [retirement] benefits — they had no interest in those,” says Taylor Monahan, the US company’s founder and chief executive.

What did employees want? “They’re early adopters and they’re tech-minded people, so the concept of living forever turns them on,” says Monahan. “That’s how we figured Forever Labs would be a good fit.”

A stem cell storage company that promises the chance for a longer and healthier life, Forever Labs claims that young, healthy cells may someday be used for what chief executive Steven Clausnitzer calls “health maintenance”. These cells, the company claims, could come in handy for treating maladies such as heart disease, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s — assuming medical technology catches up.

On behalf of its employees, MyCrypto pays the US$2500 ($3726) fee to gather stem cells via a bone marrow collection procedure. MyCrypto also covers the US$250-ayear storage fee — until workers quit or get fired.

Most of MyCrypto’s 21 staff are under 30. A unique benefit such as this may be what keeps them from jumping ship in a competitive labour market, says Monahan. “I’m always looking for ways to keep people for longer.”

But much like egg freezing — a benefit that Google, Facebook and other big companies have begun offering of late — stem cell banking promises more than it delivers, and it’s unclear how useful young stem cells will be in the future.

“There is no way to extend anybody’s life with stem cells,” says Sean Morrison, former president of the International Society for Stem Cell Research. While there are many ongoing clinical trials, he says there is no convincing evidence yet that stem cells could reverse brain- or heart-related illnesses.

For diseases that currently benefit from stem cell treatments, like blood cancers, most people don’t use their own. “There’s no reason to think people would benefit from banking their own stem cells,” he says.