What is UTRUST? Use case, our value proposition and long-term vision.
By Nuno Correia Co-Founder UTRUST
Clear Use Cases for UTRUST
Major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum allow anyone to send and receive transactions within their peer-to-peer (P2P) ecosystems. Given that the cryptocurrency community is decentralized by nature, it raises the question: What is the purpose of independent tokens and blockchain networks? UTRUST was created to answer that question.
Most of the major blockchain networks operate on protocol-level tokens which were never designed to serve as replacements for traditional payment services. But, they do represent the underlying utility of blockchain technology, in the same way, that IP protocols power the internet. We believe that we can create a standalone protocol which works for both users and merchants.
How does the UTRUST platform fit into this ecosystem?
UTRUST is not a new blockchain network or just a digital currency. Instead, it is a sophisticated platform which combines the power of several blockchain networks into one ecosystem. This simplifies the cryptocurrency payment experience for users while providing a seamless integration for merchants to accept crypto into their existing systems.
Can’t merchants simply integrate Bitcoin, Ethereum (and others) directly?
Yes, of course, they can. Merchants can adopt Bitcoin and Ethereum into their daily operations. However, most have abandoned their initial efforts to bring crypto into their existing payment schemes.
Why? Looking at market dynamics and cases such as the fall out of the partnership between Japan’s most prominent point of sale (PoS) service provider Air Regi and major cryptocurrency exchange Coincheck, it has been unfeasible for merchants to accept cryptocurrency directly due to its volatility and regulatory risk. More to that, cryptocurrencies go beyond Bitcoin, which represents only a fraction of the liquid market for transaction use-cases.
Given the legal and operational costs as well as the industry-specific knowledge required to onboard cryptocurrencies, it is no surprise that more merchants have not adopted the technology. At the end of the day, companies care about reducing costs and simplifying their user experience. UTRUST can do all of this while allowing merchants to utilize the power of cryptocurrency.
I see UTRUST as a platform which simplifies cryptocurrency payments in the same way that PayPal brought digital payments worldwide. UTRUST streamlines the process for merchants while giving consumers the option to pay directly in a cryptocurrency of their choice.
At the same time, UTRUST protects both buyers and sellers in order to ensure safety and simplicity in the purchasing process, the mobile wallet can be used to pay online with multiple cryptocurrencies and confirmations are instant, but we do not eliminate the freedom of using your own wallet. We focus on what matters, providing the underlying consumer protection for the transaction so that merchants and customers focus on what they value: a simple payment experience.
Crypto Payment Issues UTRUST is Solving That Stagnated Merchant Adoption
There are five major issues stopping merchants and consumers from adopting digital assets in the past few years. Whether it is lack of buyer protection, long confirmation periods, high volatility, limits on cryptocurrency integration or poor compliance with regulations, UTRUST has addressed all of these problems. Simply put, UTRUST allows accepting crypto as seamlessly as fiat currencies.
- Lack of Buyer protection:
Nowadays consumers can send cryptocurrency payments to a merchant but if the merchant does not deliver the product or service, consumers can lose their money. Currently, UTRUST is the only cryptocurrency payment solution that protects buyers on online purchases with a proprietary buyer protection system.
All major payment processors like VISA, Klarna, PayPal have buyer protection programs in place that ultimately work as an escrow service. Decentralization isn’t sufficient to convince users to embrace cryptocurrencies as a secure payment method when it comes to online purchases of goods and services, there are some aspects of centralization that have to remain.
Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, addressed escrow mechanisms that are necessary to protect buyers, stating in the Bitcoin Whitepaper: “transactions that are computationally impractical to reverse would protect sellers from fraud, and routine escrow mechanisms could easily be implemented to protect buyers.” UTRUST rose to the challenge and became the only cryptocurrency solution to focus on protecting both the buyer and the seller through an escrow protocol.
In short, UTRUST acts as a third-party mediator which, if necessary, holds funds until delivery of the product or service.
Our platform allows for efficient and friendly dispute resolution between buyers and sellers. When both parties fail to reach such a resolution, UTRUST steps in and upholds the standards of traditional payment methods. When everyone is protected, everyone wins and business thrives.
2. Slow transactions:
There is a clear scalability issue with some of the major cryptocurrencies. If the number of transactions increases rapidly, increasing processing power must be used to keep the system operational. For a basic user, it simply means the longer time it takes for transactions to pass. And, as a blockchain based cryptocurrency becomes more popular, the likelihood of slow confirmations becomes higher.
One of the main value proposition of UTRUST is near to instant confirmation speed within our network, which is very important for merchants like shops, bars and restaurants that need to receive money from clients in a fast and efficient manner.
3. Volatility in Cryptocurrencies:
Cryptocurrencies as an asset class are still at its infancy and until the cryptocurrency market reaches a multi-trillion dollar market cap, it is highly likely for major digital assets to increase and decrease in value on a daily basis by large margins.
On UTRUST, funds can immediately be converted to fiat currency to protect the merchant from market volatility. The immediate conversion system from cryptocurrencies to cash prevent unforeseen events like the price of cryptocurrencies crashing and merchants seeing an unexpected fall in their revenues as a result, ultimately this would put their business at risk.
We are at an early stage and the vast majority of the merchants worldwide don’t understand how blockchain works and the ones that do are afraid of the volatility. In this phase, our main goal is to simplify all of this.
Merchants like to sell online and receive the cash directly into their bank account, without volatility, in a highly practical and efficient way.
4. Multiple Wallets:
We spent a lot of time evaluating the market and building a platform that is needed by regular users and merchants. Our primary focus is established on features and services that will allow UTRUST to become the first choice platform for both.
Cryptocurrency users tend to rely on multiple wallets, exchanges and services. Nowadays is extremely difficult to keep track of everything. UTRUST native wallet goes above and beyond by being the only cryptocurrency mobile wallet supporting both on-chain and off-chain transactions. All crypto transactions in one place is the goal, supported by an intuitive dashboard with multiple features.
This being said and since UTRUST is a payment platform that benefits from its own native mobile wallet, users will be able to safely store their assets and ultimately benefit from it’s integrated exchange service. The UTRUST wallet will allow users to safely buy, sell or convert between cryptocurrencies.
5. Regulation & Compliance:
As per PwC 2018 Blockchain Survey to over 600 blockchain savvy executives think that regulatory uncertainty is one of the major barriers to blockchain adoption.
Whether companies like it or not, cryptocurrency-related services, especially on the financial side, have to be in strict compliance with local regulations. Strict compliance helps the authorities to acknowledge the broader cryptocurrency and blockchain sector as legitimate industries.
Meanwhile, the majority of crypto payment solutions remain decentralized and therefore unregulated, medium and large merchants will not deal with this kind of services as they represent a legal risk.
Due to the regulatory uncertainty in many countries, we take a strict and conservative regulatory approach. With a strong in-house legal and compliance team we are able to present a product that matches the high standards of traditional payment solutions and is in line with any financial guidelines and requirements that might come in future.
How UTRUST Will Continue to Evolve
Since the beginning, our focus has been to maintain the most friendly, efficient, secure, and practical platform for both merchants and consumers to simplify the usage of cryptocurrencies. In the months to come, we will continue to collaborate closely with our international partners to increase cryptocurrency merchant adoption and improve the accessibility of digital assets. This will allow us to fulfill our long-term vision to ultimately evolve UTRUST into the leading worldwide cryptocurrency payment processor for merchants and consumers.
