SatoshiPay 2020 Outlook and 2019 in Review

2019 was filled with exciting progress for SatoshiPay. As pioneers in the payment landscape, we would like to share some of our most memorable milestones and give an exclusive sneak-peek for what’s ahead in 2020.

The dawn of Solar

2019 started with the release of our Solar wallet: A multi-signature wallet for the Stellar network that enables seamless purchasing, transferring and managing of digital assets. We believe bringing the power of blockchain and decentralized networks to the masses requires a particular fusion of features. Our Solar wallet epitomizes this notion with a meticulous emphasis on speed, security and user experience (UX). Our goal was to make Solar feel at least as easy as using a common online banking app. We achieved this by focusing heavily on UX, ensuring flows are smooth and highly responsive.

Further progress around UX was made when Solar implemented SEP-6 in July of 2019, allowing wallets to communicate directly with anchors so users wouldn’t have to leave the Solar app. Anchors are trusted entities on the Stellar network that act as a bridge between established currencies and Stellar’s distributed ledger. They issue credit to represent existing currencies that then can be used to initiate Stellar transactions. Before SEP-6, users were burdened with having to leave their respective wallets to manage parts of the transaction process. SEP-6 enables direct line of communication for wallets like Solar so users can purchase, transfer and manage their digital assets all in one place. This strengthened our vision around making cryptocurrency systems more accessible for everyone.

Solar also exemplifies a crucial pillar of crypto-security by harnessing multi-signature authorization, meaning more than one user approval is required to execute a transaction. Our dedication to trust and security is the reason we made Solar open-source. By making it completely transparent, we hope that the passionate community of crypto gurus ensures Solar’s development experiences holistic progress. Follow Solar’s progress or join the development by finding the source code on GitHub!

SatoshiPay and Axel Springer collaborate

In late January 2019, SatoshiPay and Axel Springer joined forces to allow users to pay for content via SatoshiPay. Since Axel Springer is the biggest digital publishing house in Europe, the partnership sought to observe user acceptance and analyze initial revenues. Their reach and influence highlights the tremendous opportunity for blockchain technology in the publishing space. As digital publishing revenues have been falling by 3.7% year on year we hope our micropayment solution can help curb this trend and diversify revenue streams.

New funding, new partners

A successful funding round coupled with new partnerships empowered us to continue growing our customer base and developing new products. SatoshiPay raised €2m, which in true crypto fashion was transferred not only using fiat currencies GBP and EUR, but also via cryptocurrencies Ether and æternity Mainnet tokens. The round was led by previous investor Daniel Masters and followed by business angels from Hamburg and London as well as two blockchain foundations. This set a new benchmark for growth, solidifying an improved foundation for development and innovation. In addition, we welcomed one of Germany’s most prominent media houses in finance, Börsenmedien AG. They acquired a 5 percent stake in SatoshiPay and established a strategic partnership, allowing readers of their publications to pay for content with just one click.

SatoshiPay B2B: Enabling cross-border payments for businesses

2019 ended with the expansion of our payment repertoire when we introduced SatoshiPay B2B: A payment solution for businesses that reduces the complexities around cross-border transactions. Businesses and organisations that routinely make international payments are often confronted with high fees, slow transfer times and nontransparent processes. SatoshiPay B2B utilizes the Stellar’s distributed ledger to offer instant global payments to any country, providing there is proper local anchor infrastructure.

Secondly, we offer global token payouts for any globally operating business i.e. the ones that currently use e-commerce vouchers or other forms of ‘store credit’ due to inadequate pay-out frameworks. Our blockchain-powered B2B solution facilitates token transactions that are more reliable and cost-efficient. Built around inclusiveness and in line with compliance regulations, our service provides proper payment infrastructure for people around the globe. The minimum requirements include an email address and payment wallet.

Our journey ahead

As 2020 commences, we have our eyes set on innovation and development to redefine what it means to make payments. Coming off our strongest year yet, our ambitions are big.

• A strong focus on B2B: Our B2B payment solution has quickly become the second pillar of our business model alongside micropayments. Since it is still a new service we are integrating, a steep progression curve in both product development and revenues is expected.
• Beta launch for B2B: In an effort to empower more global businesses to conduct seamless cross-border payments, we are launching a beta version of our B2B service. What’s better: it’s nearly free! Join us, as we are currently accepting pilot clients.The beta version will be available in the countries where we currently have anchor relationships. This list will continue to grow as we expand. We presently focus on Europe, the Americas and major African markets. Our developers will create B2B payments solutions that are tailored to the needs of our pilot clients, integrating seamlessly in the respective businesses’ payment flows. We have a few spots remaining so don’t hesitate to contact us!
• UI update for all micropayment platforms: The bedrock of SatoshiPay was our micropayment solution for online publishers. Although we have expanded our capabilities since then, we haven’t ignored the importance of micropayments in our business model, and more significantly, the opportunity micropayments bring to the digital publishing industry. In order to further improve our payment solution, a UI overhaul is right around the corner. Much of this update is about simplifying and streamlining our design. Check out a preview of these improvements on DER AKTIONÄR!
• More features for Solar: We will continue to add features throughout the year in order to help Solar further internationalize. New multi-signature features are in active development. We will roll out support for SEP-7 (“delegated signing”) which will allow payment request QR codes and other applications and web sites to request data from Solar and propose transactions. We will also be changing overall user flows and further redesigning the user interface which includes an app-wide password that users have to enter upon app launch (or Touch ID / Face ID on mobile).

Stay up to date!

We are excited for what 2020 has in store! We want to take a second to thank all of our partners and passionate blockchain community members that have supported us thus far. We wouldn’t be here without you! Stay updated with even more blog posts and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @SatoshiPay.