Apple Pay is a benchmark as crypto mobile payments drive adoption.
Cryptocurrency payment platforms are slowly making their way into mainstream e-commerce platforms and retail stores, but their user experience and performance don't quite match Apple Pay.
Stijn Paumen, developing crypto payments platform Helio, during a one-on-one interview with Cointelegraph, paints a picture of the sector in its infancy.
According to the CEO and founder, Bitcoin and Ethereum are pioneers of decentralized blockchain protocols, and the underlying layer of both chains cannot compete with the performance and functionality of traditional financial infrastructure.
I think the benchmark is Apple Pay. “I just tap my phone and pay in three seconds. How do you beat Apple Pay,” Powmen explains.
The emergence of new blockchain networks is starting to close the gap, but not without teething, Powmen says:
“Now with second-generation blockchains like Solana, even though there's a lot of talk about congestion, we have the engineering resources to figure it out.”
Helio was founded in March 2022 by Pawmen and Chief Technology Officer Jim Walker. The pair has previously ventured into the crypto sector with successful startups. Powmen said they are excited about Solana's high TPS and fast endpoint as a basis for building a new crypto payment platform.
“Ever since someone paid 10,000 BTC for a pizza, crypto payments have become a thing. But the user experience is pretty grim. You had a 20-minute checkout time or payments were never processed,” Paumen said.
Related: How Solana Developers Are Solving Network Congestion Challenges
The Helio platform allows merchants and e-commerce sites to process all amounts and accept cryptocurrency payments. According to Powmen, the platform will facilitate $30 million in monthly fees, but will primarily serve the Web3 space on the consumer and merchant fronts.
It made waves in the Solana ecosystem and sold 80,000 Solana mobile phones with a paid plugin. Helio's high-profile integrations include the Solana Pay plugin for Shopify and the Manage WooCommerce plugin.
The platform supports Bitcoin (BTC), Solana (SOL), Solana-based USD Coin (USDC) and SPL tokens, as well as Ethereum-based payments. Helio will facilitate ticket sales for the annual Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), which will be linked to Bizzabo's event software.
Related: Boba Guys, Shopify Users Show Adoption of Web3 Tools – Solana Breakpoint
Paumen believes Web3 payments are an ecosystem challenge that could challenge major industry players.
“If you have Phantom Wallet and know how to use it, you can pay as quickly as Apple Pay with one tap at Helio Checkout. But you have to assume that you are a crypto-fluent user, and that's a very small percentage,” Paumen said.
Progress may be gradual as more curious users start using Web3 wallets and making payments of their choice. Powmen also said that the ride-hailing user experience needs to be improved in order to reach a wider demographic of users.
“So we're going to talk about the concept of crypto grandpa from the inside. What we mean is, when crypto grandma buys a bored monkey hoodie for her grandson, she doesn't know what blockchain is, she has to do it.”
Helio's CEO concluded that he could see Apple paying on its own blockchain, similar to Apple Pay. However, he said he strongly believes in the idea of a decentralized way to send money around the world “quickly or instantly with low fees” without intermediaries.
“I think it's just a very powerful technology. We're still early. Visa's partnership with Solana is a big sign, though.”
While onboarding major e-commerce platforms is the lowest hanging fruit for mass adoption, Paumen believes streaming platforms such as Vimeo and evenFans also provide an excellent platform for crypto payments services.
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