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One of the main challenges that bitcoin and the other cryptocurrencies are facing is user adoption.
Most merchants don’t believe in crypto (yet), or are slow to adopt because of friction. To accept cryptocurrency, merchants need to change their POS, create wallets, etc.
The team at Flexa created a protocol and payment app that enables us to use crypto currencies for our daily transactions in an easy way.
Flexa is not a blockchain project. It’s an infustracture play that merges existing payment networks with blockchains (cryptocurrencies).
How it works
First of all, there is no need for the merchant to install any new hardware or software. The merchant only needs to allow a new payment provider (Flexa) onto their payment channels. This technology works directly with their existing POS.
Now, let’s say that you want to buy a coffee from Starbucks and want to pay with BTC. Open the payment Flexa app and select your merchant, let’s say Starbucks.
Step 1. A unique QR payment code is generated through the Flexa Protocol (FPN), which authorizes a certain amount of your total payment asset (let’s assume you hold BTC in this wallet).
Step 2a. When you scan the QR code to the POS, the FPN asks the App to lock FPN collateral equal to the payment amount, in the form of FlexaCoin. This happens in milliseconds and ensures zero risk for the FPN. There is no risk because the developer has to stake the amount in the form of FlexaCoin.
Step 2b. In parallel, the app subtracts the same amount of BTC from the user’s wallet. Remember, BTC can take up to 10 minutes to arrive. However, the payment needs to be done in milliseconds.
Step 3. When the collateral is locked, the FPN authorizes a direct payment from FPN’s bank account to the merchant’s bank account. The merchant gets paid instantly (with zero credit risks and zero fees).
Step 4. Once the crypto is cleared from the wallet into the FPN’s wallet, the collateral is returned to the developer’s account.
Both the consumer and the merchant don’t see any of the above steps; they don’t even interact with FlexaCoin. We’ve seen on other projects that tokens are designed in a way that adds complexity to the users.
In this case, the users pay with their cryptocurrency, and the merchants get dollars (or any other fiat currency). The above design gives zero credit risk for both merchant and FPN. The way it achieves this, is by using the FlexaCoin as collateral for every merchant payment and direct banking payment. The result: no friction for merchants equals better user adoption.
Also, the above design gives 0 credit risk for both merchant and FPN and the way it achieves it is by using the FlexaCoin as collateral for every payment and direct banking payments.
As the team explained us, the average cost for merchants currently is 15% when we pay with our credits cards. Flexa takes this to zero and charges a flat 5% to the merchants and Flexa shares the 1% to the investors.
Challenges
One of the challenges that the Flexa Network is probably going to face is that the price of the FlexaCoin (that is used as collateral) and bitcoin need to have very low volatility at the time that the transaction takes place.
Another challenge is that the ERC-20 choice as an underlying protocol will cause slow transaction speed on high volume transaction rates.
Also, the fast growing market of crypto owners prefers to stake or speculate their crypto, mainly due to price volatility. Why give away something that will appreciate in value, in just a few days?
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Nothing in this email is intended to serve as investment advice. Do your own research.
Pay for coffee with bitcoin: Flexa case was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.