Ethereum is actually delivering peer-to-peer cash. Here’s how…
Co-author Clayton Roche
Our team is confident in our product. Even so, it has been refreshing to receive such a positive response when we share it with others in the industry. We were received enthusiastically in New York this May, and our mission is spreading online without any prompt from us!
A tweetstorm was started by @antiprosynth earlier this week when he shared Mosendo Co-founder Tom Howard’s Hackernoon article on P2P cash.
Outlining the case for how the Ethereum ecosystem is actually delivering on Bitcoin’s original promise of peer-to-peer electronic cash, @antiprosynth so succinctly started this conversation with the phrase “Ethereum is actually delivering peer-to-peer cash.”
Of course crypto twitter could not help but jump on this train of thought.
Let’s take @antiprosynth’s thesis and explore how “Ethereum is actually delivering peer-to-peer cash.”
The Ethereum Trinity = Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash
The promise of electronic cash can now be delivered because of three layers: MakerDAO, Connext, and Mosendo. When combined, they capture the upsides of cryptocurrency and package them so they are easy to use. Introducing: the Ethereum Trinity:
The Holy Breakdown
MakerDAO
Ethereum’s darling child “MakerDAO” runs the stable cryptocurrency called DAI, which is on average equal to $1. An entire movement called Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has popped up on top of it.
The proof is in the circulation: Around 90,000,000 DAI exist. A full explanation is outside of the scope of this article, but the most important factor here is that each DAI dollar is backed by a minimum of 150% worth of Ethereum. This is provably true.
This means we finally have a stable value cryptocurrency that exists entirely in the crypto space. Spends like a dollar, resists censorship like crypto.
This is nice for traders, but what about my parents? To use it, you have to look at screens like pictured here. My parents are smart people, but they aren’t interested in talking gas fees over coffee like I am: they want to buy their coffee and get on with their day.
How can we hide away all this crypto complexity to make it approachable for the everyday person?
In comes Mosendo:
Mosendo
Mosendo is mobile payments with a hidden crypto backend. It means that you can send money to your friend $Rossco with nothing more than his unique Motag.
Mosendo is the pretty face of DAI, the cryptocurrency you can take home to meet your parents. Anyone who has done internet banking, billpay, or mobile payments will take to Mosendo without missing a beat. This is why Mosendo’s tagline is: You won’t even know it’s crypto.
The Mosendo layer:
Private keys → Intuitive security
Public addresses → $Motags and QR codes
Crypto balance → Balance displayed in local currency
The only problem we need to solve now is putting payments on-chain will be expensive, and it will not scale.
In comes Connext:
Connext
Sending DAI using layer 1 Ethereum means high fees and unknown wait times.
Connext will allow Mosendo to transfer DAI between wallets without every payment being on-chain. From their website:
“Ethereum already enables p2p, trust-minimized payments. Connext is the missing piece that cuts fees to nearly zero by securely moving transactions to a noncustodial offchain layer.”
The Connext layer:
Variable confirmation times → Nearly instant
Variable tx fees → Fixed & nearly free
What my parents need to know about Connext: Nothing. They just know Mosendo is nearly instant and nearly free.
Conclusion
By combining Maker, Mosendo, and Connext we can now delivery on Bitcoin’s original promise: peer-to-peer electronic cash.
We have been confident of this during our late-night brainstorming sessions and coffee-fueled morning sprints. It’s great to see the community embrace Mosendo.
Learn more about Mosendo
Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you are as passionate about borderless access to money and wealth as we are, join our mission below.
