Dev update: An Easier Way to Gifto

Gifto Official
Aug 29, 2018 · 2 min read

Here is a quick update on where we’re at with making it far easier to acquire Gifto in the Gifto wallet and across Gifto-supported apps. We are still on-track for public testing in September, though it will be a phased rollout as we observe usage and confirm releases are working smoothly. This is a long-term initiative; see more detail below:

Trading virtual goods and uDiamond for Gifto

STATUS: IN PROGRESS

There are several fun, compliant ways we can potentially enable users to pay for or earn Gifto indirectly, which we are actively developing for testing. One of the most promising is enabling users to trade uDiamond in Uplive to Gifto in countries where this is compliant. Given the global nature of Uplive, this is a highly complex undertaking, which basically entails connecting two huge virtual economies. We ask for the community to have patience while we develop the technology and playbook for this massive undertaking.

Token supply technology

STATUS: DONE

We developed the capability to acquire tokens from the market for users who buy them from the Gifto wallet, which means we will NOT put new tokens into circulation after each purchase. This was a big effort by the team but not a one-off thing and we will still have to invest significant technical resources in this in the future.

Country-based filters

STATUS: DONE

Due to legal considerations, there are some countries where we simply can’t allow users a way to acquire Gifto in the wallet. Our wallet needs to decide which country a user is from and then block usage if from this list of countries. Crypto laws are changing all the time, so just because a country is blocked one day doesn’t mean it will be forever.

Anti-fraud checks

STATUS: IN PROGRESS

One major concern with crypto is that if a fraudster uses a stolen credit card to buy Gifto from the Gifto wallet, they could in theory transfer those Gifto on-chain and run off with the cash. This leaves either the payment gateway (for example, Stripe, Square, Paypal, etc.) on the hook for chargebacks or the merchant (Gifto project).

In practice, virtually no payment gateways are willing to take that risk. For the extremely few who are, the transaction fees (paid by the “merchant”, in this case Gifto) are unacceptably high and they also demand KYC from the user, which makes for a terrible purchasing experience.

At the end of the day, we need to build our own anti-fraud mechanisms unique to both the challenges of crypto and abused payment information. In practice this means things like smart top-up and withdrawal limits, before opening up to mass-use payment methods.

Taken together, we are on track for beta testing making it easier to get Gifto by end of September… are you ready?

Gifto Official
Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade