Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
As cryptocurrency such as stablecoins inch toward mainstream acceptance, some platforms are starting to adapt slogans borrowed from the established world of payments. In the latest example, a new San Francisco-based company called NeverPay announced early Friday a program called Buy Now, Pay Never, which it says will let users make “real-world” payments using the rewards they earn through a process called staking.
In staking, participants in a blockchain can earn rewards, also known as a staking yield, in the form of additional tokens, a type of interest on their stake. The rewards usually come in return for helping to manage operations on the platform, such as by validating transactions. They can spend the staking rewards without touching the original stake, much as a banking customer can spend interest earned on a deposit. The rewards are usually paid in the same cryptocurrency as the staked assets, which according to NeverPay remain locked for one year.
When users make payments based on the yield, NeverPay says it funds the transactions with stablecoins, which are paid immediately to the merchant, without transaction fees. “The platform utilizes the yield from staking capital that would otherwise remain idle as a means to facilitate purchases,” NeverPay says.
While the idea may be attractive to crypto owners looking to access their holdings, risks linked to staking include lock-up periods for the underlying assets and the possibility of loss through hacks or system failures, some say. Blockchains that support staking include major platforms like Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana.
Other crypto news includes a splashy debut on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday for New York City-based Circle Internet Group, a major crypto platform and issuer of the USDC and EURC stablecoins. Circle’s shares opened at $69, which valued the company at $18 billion. But trading grew fast, driving the shares as high as $103.75 and prompting more than one pause, according to news reports. Early Friday, the shares were trading at $98, not far off that Thursday high.
