Cryptocurrency Startup Aims to Upend Online Payments Giants
The rise of cryptocurrency and Web3 applications is posing an existential threat to traditional online payment giants like PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa. A new startup called Code is at the forefront of this potential revolution in how money moves on the internet.
Founded by Ted Livingston, the creator of the massively popular Kik messaging app that had over 100 million users, Code has launched a sleek new global payments platform powered by cryptocurrency. Their boldly idealistic mission? To empower anyone, anywhere in the world to charge as little as 5 cents for anything they create online.
“For decades, thishas seemed impossible because of technical and business model constraints,” said Livingston. “But with the emergence of scalable, low-cost blockchain technology, we can now deliver a seamless payments experience for everyone around the world, no matter how small the payment amount.”
Traditional payment processors like PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa have been anchored to the financial system of the past. Their business models have long been inhibited by high transaction fees that make micropayments of just a few cents uneconomical and impractical to process. As a result, their platforms simply cannot support use cases like a blogger in Nebraska charging 25 cents for a blog post or a teenager in Kenya selling an AI-generated image for 50 cents.
Code’s cryptocurrency-based platform, by contrast, has no such limitations. It allows easily unlocking “the earning potential of online creators who have been left out” by the legacy payment giants, as Livingston put it. No longer will making money online be limited to digital advertising, sponsorships, and subscription models.
The startup has marquee backers enthused about their ambitious vision to reshape digital payments. Code recently raised $6.5 million in a seed round from top venture firms like M13 and Union Square Ventures. Prominent angel investors like Balaji Srinivasan, Roham Gharegozlou, Anatoly Yakovenko of Solana, Raj Gokal, and Mert Mumtaz also participated in the round.
“The timing could not be better. There is more creative output happening around the world than ever before,” said Livingston. “The missing piece to unlock the true potential of the online economy has been a payments platform like Code that can seamlessly handle any transaction size, from tiny micropayments to large purchases.”
To use the Code platform, consumers download a sleek mobile app that acts as a self-custodial cryptocurrency wallet. It enables sending person-to-person payments instantly to anyone globally in over 100 fiat currencies. The app and platform also make it easy for merchants, creators, and businesses of any size to start accepting payments with just a few clicks.
Code represents a broader trend of Web3 applications leveraging cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies to disrupt traditional online infrastructure like payments, finance, identity and more. If startups like Code catch on, with their modern architecture and seamless user experiences suited for the digital age, the days of PayPal, Mastercard, and Visa’s dominance facilitating online payments could be numbered.
“We’ve laid the foundation with a proven product built by a seasoned team,” Livingston stated. “This investment now gives us the resources and strategic partnerships to accelerate the growth of this next generation payments platform that is the future the world has been waiting for.”
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