Cryptocurrencies are going mainstream with J.P. Morgan, Mizuho, Facebook, and many other blue chip companies issuing their own currencies. However, it remains extremely difficult to transfer value across each currency’s payment ecosystem.
The infrastructure supporting the payments industry is very liable to disruption. With trillions of dollars flowing around the world via slow and expensive antiquated payment rails, it’s no wonder that finance and technology firms alike are looking to leverage the efficiencies of blockchain. If you work in New York and want to send part of your paycheck to family in India, you will likely pay over $30 flat fee for a wire transfer, and additional fees adding up to 6-8%. The sending and receiving bank collects commissions and you are charged a foreign exchange rate. It might take up to a week to actually receive the money.
Blockchain technology offers a high-security, low-cost way of sending payments that cuts down on the need for verification from third parties and thumps transfer speeds of bank transfers. Lightning Joule, for example, is a browser extension that helps anyone interface with apps that use Bitcoins system via the lightning protocol bringing the power of fast, low-fee transactions to many applications. While banks derive approximately 40% of transaction revenue from cross-border transactions (as per McKinsey), they must look at becoming more competitive in light of incumbents armed with new technology.
While blockchain holds tremendous promise for transforming the payment landscape, cross-chain transactions remain a huge sticking point for enabling the transfer of value across payment ecosystems. Every cryptocurrency and blockchain has its own unique application, but it’s currently extremely difficult to transfer value across cryptocurrencies and blockchains. SWFT Pay connects these disparate payment silos making it easy to transfer value from one payment application to another regardless of the currency or blockchain. SWFT Pay now offers a plug-in API, so third party applications can use their cross-chain transfer engine in-app rather than sending them to a third-party exchange. By leveraging optimization algorithms and combining liquidity from over one hundred order books, SWFT Pay allows the market decide the true value rather than using a smart contract or protocol.
While cryptocurrency has a long way to go before completely replacing fiat in all payments, blockchain technology has already demonstrated the ability to provide significantly cheaper and faster payments. With so many companies issuing their own currencies, the next step is to ensure interoperability between blockchains and currencies, so that value can be easily transferred. SWFT Pay provides a solution for payment and value transfer across ever-proliferating cryptocurrency universe.
