Diem Stablecoin Prepares for Liftoff With Fireblocks Custody Partnership
Crypto custodian Fireblocks and payments platform First Digital Assets Group are providing connectivity and support to diem, the global stablecoin and payments system formerly known as libra.
Fireblocks and First are providing the digital plumbing to allow financial service providers such as banks, exchanges, payment service providers (PSPs) and eWallets to plug into Diem on day one, the companies said.
Facebook unveiled the libra project in 2019 and almost immediately became embroiled in a whirlwind of regulatory blowback and governmental outrage. The project’s ambitious goal to create a private global stablecoin backed by a basket of fiat currencies threatened to unseat the high echelons of sovereign monetary policy.
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Now, the rebranded diem plans to emerge around the end of this quarter, with a modest minimum viable project based around a U.S. dollar stablecoin.
It will be integrated, via Fireblocks and First, with Diem Association members like Spotify, Farfetch, Lyft, Uber and Shopify. (It’s notable that former Libra Association members PayPal, Mastercard and Visa are busy pursuing their own plans with public cryptocurrencies.)
The streamlined project has bent to the will of regulators and operates on a strict permissioned basis with a specific onboarding process to become a diem virtual asset service provider, or VASP.
“What Fireblocks and First have built allows merchants and payment service providers to use the diem stablecoin as a payment method in a way that’s really integrated,” Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks, said in an interview. “It’s more or less seamless, like how they would accept Visa, Mastercard or any other form of payment.”
The diem payments system also allows things like refunds, and the stablecoin can be easily changed back into fiat to pay merchants or salaries and so on, Shaulov said. Looking further down the road, the network also includes a sophisticated smart contract language called Move, Shaulov added, which could be used in areas like permissioned decentralized finance (DeFi.)
Shaulov believes diem will still be one of the fundamental projects bringing crypto into the mainstream, despite taking a while to get off the ground and garnering criticism because of its narrowed-down launch product.
Innovative Payment Solutions, Inc. Receives a Commitment of Up to $5 Million Towards Stable Coin Transactions Settlement
NORTHRIDGE, Calif., Feb. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – via NewMediaWire – Innovative Payment Solutions, Inc. (OTCQB: IPSI) (“Innovative” or the “Company”), a Southern California based fintech company focused on building a 21st century digital payment solution, IPSIPay, is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a term sheet with an existing institutional investor (“Investor”), in which the investor, subject to due diligence and completion of necessary purchase agreement and trust documentation, intends to commit to fund a minimum of $1 million and up to $5 million in a locked-up custodial account for the purpose of a IPSI Stable Coin settlement.
William Corbett, the CEO of Innovative Payment Solutions, Inc., commented: “This term sheet is yet another validation of our business model and we are ecstatic about moving forward with our IPSI Stable Coin issuance plan. It will facilitate the Company’s efforts to launch the IPSIWallet and utilize its digital rails.
The digital payment space has become particularly relevant to our niche market of unbanked and underbanked communities, and we are building IPSIPay to minimize the cost of transactions while providing instant settlement via IPSI proprietary blockchain technology. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) recent approval of stable coin-based banking infrastructure1 is a major milestone of this trend. We see it as an imperative step towards the digitalized economy which shall evolve into a greater market opportunity. This new investment capacity will help us streamline our financial and technical resources and accelerate the delivery and issuance of IPSI Stable Coin.”
About Innovative Payment Solutions, Inc.
Innovative Payment Solutions, Inc. strives to offer cutting edge digital payment solutions for consumers and service providers. Innovative’s ecosystem will span multiple devices such as self-service kiosks, mobile applications and POS terminals offering alternative payment methods to meet the needs of consumers and service providers. (investor.ipsipay.com)
SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statement of historical fact contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. In some case, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “can,” “continue,” “could,” “estimate, “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” or “will” or the or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology and include statements regarding the transactions completed by the term sheet, statements regarding building IPSIPay to minimize the cost of transactions while providing instant settlement via IPSI proprietary blockchain technology, statements regarding the term sheet being a validator of Company’s business model, statements regarding the digital payment space and its relevance to our niche market of unbanked and underbanked communities, OCC’s recent approval of stable coin-based banking infrastructure being a major milestone of this trend, being an imperative step towards digitalized economy and its evolvement into a greater market opportunity.
These forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of the press release and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations and assumptions from those set forth or implied by any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectation include, among others, our ability to expand our market share within the underserved communities, our ability to launch our kiosks rollout program in Southern California as has been previously planned before COVID-19, our ability to consummate the proposed transaction with the investor, our ability to use this term sheet to facilitate the Company’s efforts to launch the IPSIWallet and utilize its digital rails, our ability to utilize this new investment capacity to help us streamline our financial and technical resources and accelerate the delivery and issuance of IPSI Stable Coin, our ability to position Innovative for future profitability, the duration and scope of the COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, including the impact to the economy in California and Mexico, and the other factors discussed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and the Company’s subsequent filings with the SEC, including subsequent periodic reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. The information in this release is provided only as of the date of this release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release on account of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
For investor inquiries please call (818) 864-4004 or email info@ipsipay.com.
First has built a solution for merchants to accept Diem stablecoin
Israeli payments startup First DAG has built a solution for merchants to accept Diem stablecoin when it goes live sometime later this year.
The API solution will connect merchants to the Diem network to facilitate transactions, enabling their clients to utilize the Diem stablecoin as a payment method.
“We want merchants to be able to accept Diem,” First CEO Ran Goldi told The Block. “So if you are a merchant and you are already working with a payment service provider (PSP) that we have integrated with, you will able to accept Diem without any integrations.”
First will announce the supported PSPs “in the next several months,” said Goldi. As for Diem, Goldi said it should launch “in the next six months.”
To accept Diem, merchants won’t have to know about crypto or blockchain, said Goldi, because First will handle the related processes. Merchants will get paid in their native fiat currencies, he said. As for end-users, Diem will be just another payment method.
“Diem is going to be huge” since Facebook has roughly 2.8 billion monthly active users, said Goldi. Diem, formerly known as Libra, is led by Facebook, and the project has been delayed due to significant regulatory scrutiny worldwide.
Goldi said Diem would be the “easiest” payment method integrated on Facebook’s several platforms such as Instagram and WhatsApp. “You could just click a button and pay with Diem.”
The first version of Diem would be similar to other payment solutions such as PayPal, Goldi told The Block. But in the future, the Diem Association could add more features such as connecting the Diem network with other blockchain networks and a central bank digital currency (CBDC). “Then we will see the real value and benefits from Diem,” he said.
Besides Diem, Goldi said First will also support other stablecoins and a CBDC in the future.
As for the Diem solution, First has partnered with digital security startup Fireblocks to help safely keep the stablecoins.
“Diem, through its digital currencies, is set to empower a wider adoption of cryptocurrency and will require the highest levels of security for real-time payments and ensure the safety of funds and financial data of its users,” said Michael Shaulov, CEO of Fireblocks. “To accelerate the adoption of Diem payments, Fireblocks has partnered with First, to provide an easy-to-use platform for licensed providers to launch services supporting Diem.”