As the cryptocurrency market cap stands at a staggering $2.53 trillion, it is no more just another alternative financial system. Crypto users don’t want to invest in Bitcoin and altcoins as a future asset that will later appreciate in value. Instead, there is a rising clamor for making crypto a part of the mainstream economy. Visa and PayPal have already introduced crypto payments into their platforms, thus pushing for crypto’s mass adoption.
One of the latest projects bringing cryptocurrencies to the mainstream by lowering the barrier to entry is @Pay. The project aims to open up into unexplored terrains for everyday crypto transactions.
@Pay: Defining New Frontiers for Crypto
‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ transactions are becoming more common in everyday finance, and traditional financial platforms like PayPal who has been offering it for a while. @Pay is a DeFi protocol providing eCommerce payment solutions for merchants and consumers. It has garnered attention for being the first-of-its-kind ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ (BNPL) platform in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space that offers cost-effective solutions for all stakeholders.
The Australian platform is already showing signs of success due to its interest-free ecosystem and low entry cost. It comes with the promise that shoppers no longer will need to pay any interest or late fees for availing of BNPL products.
@Pay comes with its own integrated wallet, which enables users to buy products on the platform and pay using the crypto in their platform-integrated wallet. This removes the complexity of integrating any third-party crypto wallet and makes cryptos easily accessible to everyone.
When a user creates an account on @Pay, they get a base credit of $250. However, if the shoppers make timely repayments, they can increase their credit limits up to $1,200. @Pay enables buyers to purchase products and make payments for them in four installments over a period of three months. The best part is that it charges no interest and only has a fee of $6 per month for the management of users’ accounts.
Another interesting facet of the protocol is that users can stake their approved stablecoins to fund @Pay’s BNPL features. In return, they can receive @Pay yield tokens and earn a variable yield throughout the staking period. Additionally, users will also get @Pay tokens from staking, which they can farm to generate more passive income.
The @Pay Token
An integral part of @Pay is the @Pay token that powers the protocol. @Pay tokens are used for the purpose of governance and distributing platform rewards. The protocol however offers the option to mint more coins in case the supply runs out to cater to ongoing demand. The beauty of this is that all newly minted governance tokens will be based on new revenue-generating transactions on the platform.
How Will @Pay Impact Future Transactions?
To understand the effect that @Pay will have on the market, we first need to look at two things.
Firstly, we have the exponential growth of eCommerce and its staggering sales figures. As countries across the globe witnessed repeated lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more people flocked to online shopping. In 2020 alone, eCommerce sales reached a record high of $4.28 trillion.
Secondly, BNPL significantly reduces cart abandonments and increases purchase sizes. The BNPL provider, Afterpay, has seen an 83% sales conversion when shoppers get the BNPL facilities. Klarna has also documented how BNPL shoots up the basket size by 68%.
Realizing the market requirements, the @Pay protocol seems to be providing the necessary solutions for the merchants and shoppers of the post-pandemic age. With a high credit line and interest-free, no late fees platform, shoppers can make hassle-free purchases. They will no longer need to depend on their interest-heavy credit cards to get hold of the items they need.
Furthermore, the elaborate rewards system ensures that shoppers will never want to default on their payments. In tokenizing BNPL features using sophisticated smart contracts, @Pay is at the forefront in driving mainstream crypto adoption. It will not be surprising to see them become one of the biggest platforms for crypto micropayments in the coming years.