Bitcoin’s original promise of “peer-to-peer electronic cash” has not developed precisely in the way Satoshi intended. More people than ever are eager to pay with crypto, but most vendors only want Fiat.
This mismatch has many workarounds in countries with strong banking and credit card cultures, but it’s a real problem where there are alternative electronic payment rails like QR codes, says pseudon Cooper. How can I scan a Fiat-only code and pay with Stablecoins?
Cooper’s claimed solution, P2P.ME, does it without touching the normal on and off lamps. Instead, this blockchain-based service relies on a network of intermediaries who are willing to accept USDC from, say, Alice and send equivalent Fiat to Bob. The entire process takes about 90 seconds, he said.
There is no traditional identity check either. P2P.ME rejects users with zero knowledge proofs that check for the presence of social media that is actually seen. However, this personal data does not store most financial institutions from banks to reach Binance.
“What we thought was, ‘How do we decentralize this? How do we remove and turn off the Rams in a decentralized way,” Cooper said. “My number one concern is privacy and self-control. All of these sex provides data to the government.”
P2P.ME’s unauthorized market and quirky blend of privacy technology processed $1.6 million in payments from around 1,100 users, primarily in Indonesia, Nigeria and Vietnam. That modest amount was growing rapidly and was enough to earn the profits of venture capitalists. Multicoin Capital and Coinbase Venture recently invested a $2 million P2P.ME seed round.
The money has helped P2P.ME expand its team to 20 people ahead of the planned push to Latin America, Cooper said. He sees communities struggling to navigate established financial rails as key recruits. As with mobile phones, as well as those familiar with encryption going where credit cards don’t work.
Built on Base, Open Protocol is set to launch tokens in the next 12 months, according to Cooper.
“The strategic idea for tokens is to cut off the network effects of centralized exchange from P2P,” he said.
