
The 8Pay protocol facilitates recurring and on-demand cryptocurrency payments between consumers and merchants. It’s equally suited for sending funds between friends or from employer to employee. Running on the Ethereum blockchain via automated smart contracts, 8Pay forms an all-in-one payment solution for C2B and B2B.
In this article we will consider the target user base of 8Pay, focusing on ways in which its decentralized solution can effectively address inefficiencies in traditional payment gateways.
Ideal Merchants and Customers of 8Pay
• Companies that have been deplatformed
Any business operating legally, but in somewhat gray areas, could conceivably use 8Pay to widen their customer base. You see, 8Pay grants merchants — as well as their customers — complete control over their funds, with no risk of their account being banned or assets frozen. This is not a hypothetical scenario, incidentally: existing payment processors including crowdfunding platforms have, in recent years, taken to censoring organizations, entertainers and entrepreneurs. For companies operating on the margins, such as those in the vaping, legal marijuana or adult entertainment industry, the prospect of a payment gateway rescinding support and provoking a consequent loss of earnings is very real. As a pro-privacy and pro-choice product, 8Pay does not deplatform.
• Businesses that wish to operate globally
Most business owners would love to reach as many customers as possible. Unfortunately, international trade barriers mean there’s always the risk of infringing upon some arcane rule or other. Imagine, for example, you are a US business that wants to sell to a customer in a forbidden foreign land. Doing so could well incur your government’s wrath in the form of asset freezes and other sanctions. (Since 2012, the US has imposed more than 60 rounds of sanctions on Russia alone.) Given the ease with which 8Pay facilitates crypto payments from anywhere in the world, the protocol can help global merchants shuck off the regulatory shackles.
• SaaS companies including VPN providers
Software as a Service (SaaS) vendors and VPN providers offer customers a rolling service with monthly billing, which is just one of the reasons why they may be interested in supplementing or replacing their existing subscription payment processor with 8Pay. Fiat gateways oblige SaaS companies to obtain customers’ credit card details, erecting a possible barrier to closing the deal. That’s not the case with 8Pay, making it an easier sell for software vendors. With 8Pay, it’s also far easier to unilaterally cancel your subscription any time you like — another selling point. As far as Virtual Private Networks are concerned, the customer base is likely to be pro-crypto and pro-privacy, and as such more amenable to 8Pay’s decentralized value proposition.
• Companies paying employees and contractors a fixed salary
With 8Pay, employers can easily schedule recurring crypto payments to staff members and contractors. Once the amount, frequency of payment and duration is determined, the plan is settled on the blockchain, with both parties reassured by the inviolability of the agreement. At this moment in time, the companies most likely to make payments in cryptocurrency are already operating in the cryptosphere — tech startups, crypto-centric websites and so forth. But the number of organizations willing to make payments in crypto is likely to increase as adoption becomes more widespread.
• Privacy-conscious web users
Consumers who balk at the prospect of having to share their personal data in the form of credit card details and other supporting documents will find a lot to like about 8Pay. As noted, a high proportion of crypto users are privacy-conscious by nature, so enabling them to use their digital tokens to pay for goods and services — particularly subscriptions that were previously only available using fiat services — is a major breakthrough.
These are just some of the demographics we anticipate being among the early adopters of 8Pay. The beauty of permissionless crypto networks is that anyone and everyone is free to use them. Whatever your tribe, territory, or business type, 8Pay is open to you.
