P2P payments company arrives in Brazil and wants to be the 'PayPal of crypto'

Source: Exame
Original Title: P2P payments company arrives in Brazil and wants to be the ‘PayPal of crypto’
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The US fintech LiberPay has chosen Brazil as its first strategic market to launch its payment infrastructure based on stablecoins pegged to the dollar. The country was selected for having the highest rate of crypto asset adoption in Latin America and for offering a favorable environment for expanding digital services geared toward the financial sector.

“We believe the future of payments belongs to everyone. For too long, people and businesses have depended on slow, expensive, and centralized services to carry out their financial transactions—from the smallest to the largest. To return control to users, we developed a blockchain-based payment system focused on stablecoins, enabling peer-to-peer transactions, invoice issuance, and point-of-sale payments for individuals and businesses,” said Tobias Kleitman, cofounder of LiberPay.

“LiberPay exists because we believe payments should be fair, fully controlled, transparent, low-cost, and above all, accessible to everyone,” he added.

About the platform

The company operates with a peer-to-peer (P2P) system built on the Polygon blockchain. The technology uses smart contracts audited by CertiK and aims to allow users to make direct payments in stablecoins, both between people and between consumers and businesses, without the need for intermediaries. The model gives users self-custody of digital assets, as LiberPay does not access or control the funds moving between buyer and seller.

The system is designed to simplify the use of stablecoins. Currently, the platform is compatible with USDC and USDT, as well as the Brazilian Real. For transactions between individuals, it’s possible to send and receive stablecoins directly from wallets such as MetaMask or Trust Wallet, connected via WalletConnect.

Payments can be made via QR Code or link. In these operations, the platform does not charge a fee, and users only pay the blockchain “Gas fee.” In addition, the payment receipt is recorded on the blockchain in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT).

LiberPay’s platform aims to offer a service similar to other market successes, but with an even deeper immersion in blockchain technology and stablecoins. While other platforms already have blockchain initiatives and even their own stablecoins, LiberPay is built on top of a blockchain network and does not hold users’ assets, offering the possibility of self-custody.

Speaking to EXAME, LiberPay’s cofounders revealed that their goal is to promote a service with important pillars of peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions and self-custody.

For merchants, LiberPay licenses a decentralized and exclusive payment gateway for each establishment, allowing store owners to receive funds directly in their wallet, with no conversion or intermediary steps.

Charges for business accounts are applied after the first 100 transactions and amount to 0.3% of the value or 0.50 USDC, whichever is lower. According to the company, this percentage is below the average fees charged by traditional acquirers, which range from 2% to 3%. The platform also offers integration with payment platforms for credit card transactions.

LiberPay was founded with its own investment and counts among its cofounders Rob Valleau, who previously founded JADAK Technologies, sold in 2015 for US$93 million.

Focus on Brazil

With the start of its operations in Brazil, the company wants to test its business model in one of the most active markets in the region in terms of financial innovation and cryptoasset usage.

“Brazil represents a strategic market for LiberPay, combining regulatory maturity and rapid crypto asset adoption,” said Tobias Kleitman, cofounder of LiberPay.