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预留:日常生活中消费使用以太币
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... oin-into-real-world
Singapore Startup Takes Bitcoin Into Real World With Visa
By Krystal Chia and Sterling Wong
July 24, 2017, 7:00 AM GMT+10 July 24, 2017, 1:46 PM GMT+10
A recurring challenge for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is how to make them work in the real world. A Singapore-based startup says the answer is its Visa card.
TenX is pitching its debit card as an instant converter of multiple digital currencies into fiat money: the dollars, yen and euros that power most everyday commerce. The company said it takes a 2 percent cut from each transaction and has received orders for more than 10,000 cards. While transactions are capped at $2,000 a year, users can apply to increase the limit if they undergo identify verification procedures.
Tenx’s bid to make digital currencies easier to spend comes amid massive volatility and infighting within the cryptocurrency community. Bitcoin, the most popular, slumped after reaching a record in June amid concerns about a split in two, only to recover as fears faded. The company has built an app that serves as a digital wallet connected to the Visa card so that when it’s swiped at a cafe or restaurant, the merchant is paid in local currency and the users’ crypto account is debited.
“You’re mixing two worlds that are night and day,” co-founder Julian Hosp said in an interview. “When the user spends the cryptocurrency, we have to instantly switch these currencies to fiat and pay to Visa straight away. It’s a lot of pathways."
Hosp said transactions are processed immediately and it doesn’t impose any charges on top of the conversion fee that is set by cryptocurrency exchanges, which typically is 0.15 to 0.2 percent. The card now supports eight digital currencies, including the lesser-known dash and augur, and aims to offer about 11 of them by the end of the year.
TenX currently processes about $100,000 of transactions a month. By the end of 2018, it’s targeting $100 million in monthly transactions and a million users.
TenX has an advantage in moving early, but the startup can expect competition in the future from major financial institutions and venture capitalists with deeper pockets and direct access to clients and databases, said Mati Greenspan, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based analyst at social trading platform eToro.
“It’s an incredible concept,” said Greenspan. “At the end of the day, it’s going to depend a lot on customer relations. Are they meeting the customers’ expectations? Can somebody else do it better?”
TenX’s efforts to make digital currencies spendable come as it joined the many blockchain-based startups taking advantage of initial coin offerings. ICOs are a cross between crowdfunding and an initial public offering that firms use to raise funds by issuing digital tokens rather than stock.
In its token sale last month, TenX raised $80 million with about half to be used to expand operations while the rest will provide liquidity for a cryptocurrency exchange in the works, said Hosp.
The company had previously raised $120,000 from angel investors and $1 million in a seed round led by venture capital firm Fenbushi Capital, which lists Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, as a general partner. TenX isn’t expecting to become profitable in the next two years as it focuses on expanding services.
“One thing we want to offer in the end, is that you can switch cryptocurrencies within the app,” said Hosp. “If we do this, we can become the market maker, which can bring in a lot of revenue.”
比特币和其他加密数字货币主流化面临的挑战是如何让在现实世界中使用。新加坡一家初创公司TenX表示, 答案是visa 卡。
TenX 发行的Visa借记卡可以把多种数字货币的即时转换为各国法定货币,例如电子商务中最常用美元, 日元和欧元。该公司表示, 每笔交易需要2%的手续费, 一开始接受申请,就已经收到超过1万张卡的订单。一开始有每年2000美元消费上限, 但如果用户通过身份验证, 则可以申请增加使用额度。
正当数字货币存在巨大价格波动和社群内存在分歧与争议之际,TenX的创新使数字货币更容易消费。最出名的比特币在今年六月创下历史新高后,因市场担心比特币的分裂而暴跌, ,目前市场恐惧消退,价格恢复。TenX已经开发好一个连接Visa 卡的数字钱包应用程序, 这样在咖啡馆或餐馆刷Visa卡, 商家会收到当地货币, 用户则支付加密数字货币。
"你把白天和黑夜两个世界融合在一起" 创始人朱利安.豪斯普在接受采访时说,"当用户用加密数字货币进行消费, 我们必须立即将这些货币转换为法定货币支付给Visa。这一过程要经过不少付费通道。(译者注:白天黑夜的比喻暗指比特币是暗网的支付货币)
豪斯普说, 交易是即时处理的, 除了加密数字货币交易所通常收取的千分之一点五到千分之二的手续费, 不额外收转换费。该Visa卡目前支持八中加密数字货币, 包括鲜为人知的Dash和Augur,计划在今年年底之前币种增加到11个。
TenX 目前处理每月约10万美元的交易。到2018年底, 目标达到每月1亿美元的交易和100万用户。
社交交易平台电子牛eToro 的一名位于以色列特拉维夫分析员马提.格林斯潘评论说, TenX具有先发优势, 但在未来可能会面临来自主要金融机构和风险投资家的竞争, 他们资本更雄厚,还能够直接接触客户和数据库。
"这是一个非常棒的理念," 格林斯潘说。"但最终的结果,很大程度上还是取决于客户关系。服务是否满足客户的期望?竞争对手会不会做得更好?
TenX 的努力, 实现了加密数字货币可支付。 该公司也加入了许多 基于区块链的初创企业进行首次发币融资 (ICO)。ICO是众筹与首次公开募股的融合。公司通过发行数字令牌取代股票来筹集资金。在上个月的ICO中, TenX 筹集了8000万美元, 约有一半用于扩大业务, 其余部分将为一个加密数字货币交易所提供流动性。
该公司此前曾向天使投资人募集了12万美元, 并从风险投资公司 Fenbushi 资本领导下从种子轮中募得100万美元资金,并列出以太坊Ethereum的创始人 Vitalik Buterin 作为一般合伙人之一。TenX 不打算在未来两年内盈利, 而将专注于扩大服务范围。
"我们最终要提供的服务是, 您可以在 App 中转换加密数字货币," 豪斯普说, "如果我们能够做到, 我们就可以成为市场庄家, 这会带来很多收入."
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