There is a lot to look forward to in Bitcoin. For example, many people are anticipating a wave of tokens and more Bitcoin onramps/offramps in the near future. But a key component of these highly anticipated developments will be the wallet providers in the Bitcoin ecosystem. To bring tokenization and utility in commerce to fruition, the Bitcoin wallet that you use has to be compatible with the tokens coming to Bitcoin SV (BSV) and must be able to work with the merchants and retailers that have configured their point of sale systems and checkout pages to accept digital currency.
Recently, we had the chance to catch up with HandCash co-founder and CEO Alex Agut to learn more about the upcoming developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem. In our conversation, we discussed, the tokens coming to BSV, the approach HandCash is taking to tokenization, some of the latest developments in the Bitcoin for payments sector, as well as what Alex Agut hopes to see transpire in 2021.
Many people are looking forward to tokenization taking place on Bitcoin, what are a few use cases for tokens, how do you think tokens will be used, and how is HandCash planning for the tokenization coming to Bitcoin?
Tokens are an interesting technology that allow for easily using and moving packages of information such as limited edition items, promo codes, sports tickets, [etc.]. Those are very interesting use cases we see. It’s way cheaper and safer to do these things in Bitcoin SV.
However, we are not fans of the default Ethereum way of handling tokens unlike the rest of the Bitcoin SV ecosystem. I think decoupling tokens from wallet infrastructure is a good start, tricky but nobody said doing things the right way was easy.
We are still very skeptical about the necessity of tokens at this point. There are more protocols than current use cases. As a small company, we might wait for things to settle a bit to pick the right horse—if any—before investing any resources on it. We’re focused on using Bitcoin SV as cash first and foremost… the rest, we’ll see.
There have been quite a few Bitcoin for payments initiatives geared toward merchant adoption and consumer spending lately. Earlier, this year, we saw HandCash partner with Centi to build-out digital currency for payment capabilities—can you tell us more about the HandCash merchant adoption initiatives, how Centi plays a role in making this possible, as well as what the initiatives and the payment experience looks like?
Regarding merchant adoption, we will see our partnership with Centi come to reality, and that’s pretty cool: native Bitcoin SV payments on regular Points of Sale. That means we don’t have to deploy a whole new infrastructure to offer this capability.
Also, we are very thrilled about what we can do with Anypay—both of our companies are aligned in terms of striving for an excellent user experience, not just beyond crypto but also much better than what current payment systems can offer.
Finally, we are looking into the best way to offer an online checkout experience that’s as good if not better than PayPal. We are currently focused on nano-payments but it’s always good to be able to offer our users the power to make online purchases much easier.
Join the era of #nanopayments https://t.co/UniWaOzSVE
— Rafa Jiménez (@_rafa_js) December 14, 2020
What are you most excited about right now in blockchain/digital currency?
The most exciting thing for our team right now is a project we’ve been working on for almost a year, [it] will be revealed pretty soon. It’s a game-changer, at least for HandCash. We will invite the rest of the ecosystem to join. You’ll see. [it has] never [been] done before.
Do you have any predictions or things that you expect to materialize in the Bitcoin ecosystem in 2021?
2021 must be the year non-bitcoiners will start using this technology. We would consider it a failure if this ecosystem does not have 10x the number of users by the end of 2021, so we must work smart—and hard!
See also: Alex Agut talk about “Making Bitcoin Easy to Use for Everyone” at CoinGeek live
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