Eth2 — Send and Receive Ether Using Just your Phone Number

In the modern world, sending cryptocurrency to someone requires knowing the public address of the other party. But what happens if the receiver doesn’t have it? If, for example, you’re sending Ether to a friend who is less familiar with the crypto world but wants to explore it but has no idea where to start. It is clear that he/she would need a lot of help before they can access their first crypto assets.

Apart from all that, there are countries where people simply don’t have access to a personal computer and are forced to use the internet on smartphones instead. Without payment terminals or other ways to conveniently transfer value, our solution can be very helpful.

Here at Eth2, we made it our mission to help people like that. We came up with the solution that would allow blockchain to grow beyond its current user base. We created a product enticing enough to challenge users to learn more about blockchain and keep them motivated throughout the process. Since phone number is wildly considered a universal ID, owned by almost everyone on the planet and easier to remember than a hexadecimal Ethereum address, it became a foundation for our technology.

At Eth2, we are looking to help with the following:

1. Crypto on-boarding. We want to give a person a taste of crypto world and motivate them to study it more on their own.
2. Crypto P2P Communications. We strive to enable users to receive crypto assets even without having a typical ETH address.
3. Crypto Rigidity Problems. Our solution will help to make transfer process more fluid by giving users an option to revert the transaction.

How does it work?

In short, we linked the crypto transfer process to a person’s phone number. Eth2 only has a few basic requirements: a phone number and ability to install a wallet to store cryptocurrency.

To learn more about our technology solution, take a look at the “Using Escrow Smart Contracts to Secure ETH Transactions with Eth2” article.

Sender Instructions.

Here is what you need to do to send ETH using Eth2:

1. Open https://eth2.io in the DApp browser of your mobile wallet application (Trust Wallet) or in web browser with installed Metamask extension (has to be unlocked). Web3 allows Eth2 connect to your wallet to interact with blockchain and check the balance;
2. Fill the forms — phone number of the receiver and amount you are sending, press “Send”;
3. Verify the transaction using your wallet interface;
4. Wait until the transaction is done processing and being secured by a Smart Contract;
5. Get a link with extracted data. Copy and share the message with receiver:

Message with link and secret code

How to send ether to phone number

Receiver instructions

As we mentioned before, as a company, our goal is to get people interested using crypto BUT we will not do it at the expense of loosing money. That is why, if you fail this process, the crypto assets will be returned to the sender, not lost.

There are multiple cases that can occur when receiving ETH. Here, we will talk about the most “involved” one.

Here is what you need to do to if someone sent you ETH using Eth2:

1. Follow the link from the message that you’ve received. It leads you to intermediary screen prompting to install a wallet application. We partner with Trust Wallet and suggest them for the smoother flow. Press the “Use Trust Wallet” button. You are forwarded to the Google Play Store or App Store to download the app;
2. After downloading the app and creating a wallet you will be automatically forwarded to the receiving section of Eth2 DApp in the Web3 browser;
3. You will see your phone on the DApp screen. Press “Confirm” to receive an SMS with code and proceed to phone verification;
4. Fill in the code from SMS. Press “Confirm” button to receive assets. You will be forwarded to the transaction status screen;
5. When transaction processing ends the assets will be transferred from Smart Contract to the wallet.

How to receive ether with setting up the wallet

Please note that the process described above can vary depending on the amount that was sent and wallet that is used. Amounts above 0.1 ETH require manual phone and code input for safety reasons. For more info please read our FAQ.

Future plans

We find it challenging to help people easily exchange crypto assets, feeling safe and learning new tech at the same time. So, we plan to:

• Collaborate with wallets and continue to simplify the process;
• Expand the solution to support ERC20 and ERC721 tokens;
• Introduce the same simple solution for business needs.

Try it out on eth2.io

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