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Cryptocurrency adoption has grown significantly over the past decade. Platforms like Bitwala, and Bitrefill allow users to spend crypto in routine life. However, crypto spending is only possible with secure hot wallets that allow users to keep digital assets without worrying about scams, hacking, or theft.
Thanks to advancements in technology, building crypto exchanges and offering secure wallets are easier than ever. Not only startups but also existing businesses can build functional crypto exchanges with hot wallets in under six weeks.
This blog will elaborate on how businesses can build and launch crypto exchanges with wallets. But, first, let’s clarify hot wallets and how they differ from cold ones.
Hot vs cold wallets
A hot wallet is a software-based wallet, while a cold wallet is a hardware device. Hot wallets are protected with private keys that are stored on devices connected to the internet. In contrast, cold wallets keep private keys completely offline, offering enhanced security against hacking attempts.
Users can access hot wallets from devices connected to the internet such as mobiles, laptops, tablets, and desktop computers. On the other hand, cold storage wallets include hardware devices, USB sticks, and even paper wallets.
The cost structure also differs: hot wallets typically have a monthly subscription or transaction fee whereas cold wallets range in price from 40 euros to 400 euros, depending on brand and device.
Build a crypto trading app with hot wallets
There are two ways to build and launch a crypto trading app. One, code the entire platform from scratch. This can take a year or more before the crypto trading app is ready to launch.
Another way is to partner with crypto service providers such as Striga that can help launch a crypto exchange in under six weeks. Striga helps businesses offer end users secure hot wallets. Easy-to-embed APIs make the whole process easy to navigate.
Before making any commitment, innovators can test the product in a sandbox environment. Companies can explore features and see how the final product would function for the end users. Sandbox testing provides flexibility, reducing risks and ensuring businesses choose the best available option.
Additionally, crypto service providers offer open documentation for the developers, helping them fully understand the integration process and optimize the exchange platform effectively.
KYC and AML compliance: A major challenge
Implementing KYC and AML checks is one of the biggest challenges when building a crypto trading app. Companies have two options. The first is to handle everything in-house, which may require getting a VASP license, depending on the country.
In the EU, businesses must also follow MiCA regulations and comply with GDPR when handling user data. Without meeting these legal requirements, companies may not be allowed to process user data or offer crypto services.
The second option is to partner with crypto service providers. With the help of licensed crypto service partners, companies can focus on user experience and business expansion, while the service providers manage KYC and AML compliance.
Many service providers already hold VASP licenses and comply with MiCA regulations, allowing them to handle these regulatory requirements on behalf of businesses.
Striga uses SumSub to onboard end users. The in-house compliance team at Striga ensures that every user and business onboard has a clear background. Striga offers a two-tiered KYC process:
- Tier 1: The new user goes through basic checks, including name, phone number, email, and liveness verification. Once the user reaches the inbound limit for Tier 1, they are automatically prompted to complete Tier 2.
- Tier 2: This includes more detailed checks, such as verifying the user’s source of income, residence proof, and other necessary documents. Users can also voluntarily opt for Tier 2 once approved on Tier 1.
Choose the best hot wallet provider for cryptocurrency platforms
Choosing the right hot wallet provider is an important decision that impacts the security, performance, and growth of cryptocurrency platforms. By focusing on factors like security, scalability, compliance, and ease of integration, businesses can make a smart choice that benefits end users and sets apart the cryptocurrency platforms from competitors.
Whether companies decide to build a wallet system or partner with a trusted provider like Striga, ensuring the hot wallet is secure, reliable, and user-friendly will set the foundation for a successful crypto platform.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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Simplified card scheme & instant debit cards solution for crypto platforms
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Financial institutions need access to a card scheme to issue a card program. The timeline and process for a traditional platform to collaborate with a card scheme are costly, lengthy, and hectic. The process is even more complex for crypto financial institutions.
Instant debit cards are virtual cards that are easily issued and available to use. Issuing instant debit cards for the end users to spend crypto offers unlimited opportunities. Instant debit cards can also be added to mobile phone wallets such as Apple or Google Pay which makes it possible for consumers to spend anywhere without keeping a physical card.
Card issuer companies help crypto platforms offer card programs to customers without dealing with card schemes.
Understanding a card scheme
A card scheme is a payment network that processes payments using debit or credit cards. Financial institutions can become members of card schemes after which they can issue cards to the consumers. The known names for the card schemes are VISA, MasterCard, and UnionPay.
Whenever an end user makes a debit card payment, the card scheme plays a crucial role in that transaction. In a card scheme, several key holders are involved such as card holder (end-user), merchant (business), issuer (financial institution), and card scheme itself.
Striga simplifies this process for fintech and crypto companies by offering card issuance through a licensed card scheme. By integrating with Striga’s single set of APIs, businesses can issue instant debit cards, enabling users to effortlessly make everyday online transactions.
Issuance of instant debit cards to the end user
Fintech and crypto companies can issue various kinds of instant debit cards to the end users. For example, businesses can offer travel prepaid cards, rewards, BTC, or USDC cards.
Issuance of instant debit cards for the end users is straightforward. The user creates an account on the crypto app. After providing the necessary information, KYC begins. At Striga, KYC is taken care of in-house with the help of SumSub.
Once the user clears the KYC checks, he gets an option to place an order for an instant debit card which is issued within a few seconds. This allows the user to start spending money pretty much everywhere where VISA or MasterCard is accepted.
After the user pays with the virtual debit card in the desired store, the backend processing starts the same way it would begin for any MasterCard, VISA, or UnionPay card. The card issuer company then sends a request to the crypto platform. After confirming the user’s crypto balance, fiat funds are processed in real time.
Secure online transactions with payment tokenization
Payment tokenization is a security process that replaces sensitive card details with a unique digital token. Instead of sharing actual card numbers, tokens are used to process transactions.
With the growing adoption of contactless payments, tokenization is becoming essential for securing online transactions. Striga’s APIs ensure that fintech platforms seamlessly integrate secure tokenized payments.
Striga offers tokenized payments across various digital wallets, allowing end users to add their cards to Apple, Google, Samsung, Fitbit, Fidesmo, and Garmin Pay. These integrations allow users to make fast and secure payments.
Striga provides APIs to manage the lifecycle of tokens when implementing manual or push provisioning. APIs also allow businesses to handle tokenized payments and track their usage. To track which token is provisioned to which wallet, all token API responses include a request ID (requestorId).
For example, if an Apple Pay request includes requestorId: 40010030273, a type: SECURE_ELEMENT, and a status ACTIVE, it means the card is successfully enrolled in Apple Pay.
Similarly, there is a token API available that tells how the tokenized card is being used. For example, the tokenized card is either used for subscription services or enrolled in a wallet, and so on. Learn more about payment tokenization here.
Issue instant debit cards without dealing with a card scheme
Striga’s licensed card scheme and a single set of API solutions empower businesses to issue secure, tokenized instant debit cards without the complexities of dealing directly with card schemes.
With instant card issuance, effortless mobile wallet integration, and advanced security through tokenization, Striga enables end users to spend crypto securely anywhere in the world.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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Just a few years ago, the idea of a crypto neobank seemed like a dream. Today, multiple neobanks support crypto transactions. This is possible because of payment gateway providers. The providers have enabled neobanks to effortlessly integrate crypto payment systems into their platforms, offering a more flexible and modern banking experience.
Crypto neobanks offer many benefits, such as buying, holding, and managing cryptocurrencies.
But, crypto neobanks are not just supporting cryptocurrency transactions, they’re transforming how people interact with digital currencies, making them safer, faster, and more accessible than ever before.
Payment gateway providers offer APIs for virtual banking
Fintech startup visionaries can easily launch crypto neobank within six weeks with the help of payment gateway providers. Payment gateway providers offer a set of APIs that eliminate the need for hard-core tech and allow plug-and-play smart setup.
To become one of the best virtual banks in the industry, it is important to be different and create ease for the end users. Crypto startups can differentiate themselves from traditional fintech companies by offering services like; crypto wallets, exchanges, and payments with lower fees and an easy onboarding process.
Partnering with payment gateway providers such as Striga empowers companies with APIs that help with wallet management and card issuing, as well as providing dedicated vIBANs to end users.
With the help of payment gateway providers, companies can issue physical or virtual cards to end users. A single, easy-to-use dashboard handles the whole card lifecycle management. Businesses can also approve or decline end users’ transactions in real-time.
Additionally, startups can partner with payment gateway providers to build innovative solutions for end users, such as offering crypto rewards, travel, BTC, or USDC cards.
Online payment systems, licensing complexities & KYC
MiCA stands for Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulations. Companies need this license before launching their crypto platforms in Europe. Getting a license is one of the major hurdles in building a crypto-neo bank.
Receiving a MiCA license in Europe can take six months to one year. However, payment gateway providers solve licensing complexities for crypto startups, which means companies can start operating within weeks without a license.
Another big issue crypto startups face is setting up an in-house compliance system and team within online payment systems. This is where payment gateway providers such as Striga come in. Striga does KYC of the end-users, ensuring whoever is onboarded has a clean background.
Striga uses Sumsub for the end user’s KYC. Additionally, an in-house compliance team monitors AML and handles suspicious transactions.
White label payment gateway benefits virtual banking
A white-label payment gateway allows crypto neo-banks to launch quickly without investing heavily in development. Companies can start operations within a few weeks. Startups can build and launch crypto exchanges and wallets using white label payment gateway.
Additionally, companies can offer end users branded physical and virtual crypto cards with which customers can spend anywhere in the world. Providers like Striga offer a single set of APIs for building a white-label crypto platform. Whether it is DeFi products or a card program, Striga can deliver according to business requirements.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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Crypto has come a long way. From not being accepted as real money to now heavily regulated, businesses have an extended list of regulations to comply with. And it’s not a smooth ride.
From GDPR to MiCAR, and AML, the EU crypto regulation landscape is complex (much like the acronyms itself) and small-medium businesses face disproportionate hurdles. In such cases, there are only two options — comply with the regulations or, partner with a regulated entity and continue operating as normal.
The former requires heavy investments in establishing a comprehensive compliance framework, legal overheads, capital, and time. The latter however, takes away the unnecessary hassle and provides a straightforward solution.
To make compliance digestible, this blog will cover the three key regulatory updates and how it impacts business operations going forward.
Keeping up with crypto regulation and the business implications
Complying with the evolving crypto laws in-house isn’t feasible for most SMBs. Not only do they need to allocate a considerable amount of capital, it also takes away their focus from building and scaling business.
But before we get into the possible action plan, let’s check what the regulations entail.
Controlling, processing, and securing user data with GDPR
GDPR law is not limited to the EU. And it most certainly isn’t limited to crypto either.
However, it’s an essential element to the overarching European digital assets regulation and laws.
GDPR applies to businesses operating outside Europe as well if they happen to process personal data of EU citizens or residents. Failing to comply can result in significant penalties as fines can go up to €20 million or 4% of global annual revenue.
Coming into effect in 2018, GDPR focuses on protecting personal data. So to comply, businesses must implement strict privacy policies, collect user consent, ensure secure data processing, and allow individuals to access, correct, or delete their data.
Essentially the regulation grants individuals autonomy and holds businesses accountable for responsible data management. So data controllers and processors must implement necessary safeguards and must report data breaches to authorities and affected individuals.
Overall, businesses need to process:
- Identity verification data: e.g., name, ID numbers, and documents.
- Transaction data: e.g., payment details and transaction history.
- Account information: e.g., login credentials and account settings.
- Communication records: e.g., messages exchanged on business website.
- Service usage data: e.g., IP addresses, timestamps, and activity logs.
And they need to control:
- Technical data: e.g., device information, IP addresses, and browser type.
- Customer service interactions: e.g., support tickets and chat transcripts.
- Marketing preferences: e.g., communication opt-ins.
- Platform usage statistics: e.g., user behavior analytics.
So in the case of a crypto exchange wallet platform, they must collect and process user data to remain GDPR compliant. Depending on the user base, they can have anywhere from a couple of hundreds to thousands of data to process.
In such cases, they can partner with regulated financial entities equipped to handle regulatory compliance needs better.These user data will be collected and processed by the partner entity as well, as they happen to be the partner’s customers as well.
Which brings us to our next regulation — MiCAR. Without which crypto payments and exchange platforms will cease to operate in the EU.
Setting a unified crypto regulation framework in the EU with MiCAR
Until recently, the VASP license meant crypto companies could operate only in their home country. However, with the onset of MiCAR, it will lose validity as the regulation takes a more uniform, EU wide scope.
Coming into effect December 2024, MiCAR now encompasses all crypto assets and businesses must clearly list all the services they intend on providing.
However, like most crypto laws, this one’s not easy to implement for SMBs either. There’s a long list of documents businesses must submit. From business plan and shareholder details to proving the management body’s competence in handling service providing.
Furthermore, the crypto regulation now requires businesses to meet the higher prudential, governance, and operational standards. They must maintain financial reserves, meet minimum capital requirements, and safeguard client funds with regulated institutions.
Stablecoin issuers have to follow strict governance, financial reserves, and operational transparency rules. They must back issued tokens with sufficient reserve assets held with trust custodians and supported by capital buffers to avoid financial risks.
But there are also three important advantages.
One, MiCAR allows existing CASPs to operate across the EU based on passporting rights — simplifying cross border expansion with minimal administrative hassles. However, before they qualify for passporting, CASPS must acquire the licensing rights in their home country and notify national regulators before expanding to other EU states.
Two, it maintains market integrity based on the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The primary reason being to prevent insider trading, market manipulation, and improper disclosure.
Three, CASPs benefit from a transitional period so they can continue with operations as they prepare for MiCAR authorisation. However, businesses must check the period based on their country as the specifics may vary.
Overall, MiCAR aims to reduce legal uncertainty by adopting a more uniform approach to the digital assets regulation framework. Following on the theme of uniformity, AML directives are the next steps towards closing regulatory gaps within the EU member states.
Flexibility in uniformity with AMLD6 and AMLR
The AMLR (Anti-Money Laundering Regulation) and AMLD6 (Anti-Money Laundering Directives) together focus on further strengthening the AML efforts. AMLR lays down regulatory and supervisory frameworks and AMLD6 improves the criminal law measures, drilling down on the criminalization of money laundering.
Aimed at improving financial transparency, these regulations make it harder to exploit financial systems and hold individuals and entities accountable involved in money laundering.
Just as MiCAR unifies the digital assets regulation framework across the EU, AMLR sets uniform standards bringing consistency in financial and compliance processes. AMLD6 on the other hand provides flexibility in how states can enforce criminal sanctions.
Furthermore, AMLD6 also holds legal entities accountable for money laundering and companies may face severe penalties.
What implications does this have for businesses?
Businesses have a significant responsibility to amp up the compliance risk management efforts. They must conduct regular audits, adopt effective control systems, and train employees accordingly. Industries previously exempt from AML regulations will now have to comply with increased transaction transparency and follow KYC protocols.
Action plan for SMBs — managing regulations the smart way
Complying with regulations in the financial sector is necessary for businesses to operate. As complex as they are, they’re also essential for businesses.
It’s clear businesses need to beef up their crypto laws effort if they plan to continue operating. Whether it’s an exchange platform or an ecommerce website, incorporating crypto payment services comes with extra scrutiny from the EU regulators.
This blog only covered three of the more widely discussed regulations. But there are plenty more that businesses need to keep up with. There’s the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) that aims to strengthen IT security in the European financial sector. And the DLT Pilot Regime Regulation that simplifies trading and settlement activities of financial instruments for distributed ledgers (DLT).
Managing crypto regulation and compliance is a resource heavy responsibility and most SMBs are not well-positioned to address it.
Luckily licensed entities such as Striga take on the heavy lifting. It’s built so businesses don’t need to go through the licensing process themselves and stay on top of the evolving regulations. No need to invest in complex compliance infrastructure and operational adjustments — simply partner up and launch.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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Building crypto neo-banks, issuing vIBANs, white-label debit cards, or integrating risk management into platforms, sounds easy, but startups need over seven different business payment services to launch successfully.
Before launching a crypto platform, a startup must fulfill a few mandatory requirements, such as crypto integrations (exchange, wallet), card integrations (BIN sponsor, processor, card bureau), banking integrations (vIBAN provider), and risk management (KYC, AML).
It was hectic, tiring, time-consuming, and expensive a few years ago. Fortunately, Striga, a YC-backed company, was created to solve this problem, which allows fintechs to launch their product successfully by using a single set of APIs, eliminating the need to partner with multiple business payment services.
Power of business payment services for startups
Crypto startups often face unique challenges during setup as traditional financial institutions do not prefer to partner with crypto companies because of the risk involved with it. Business payment services bridge the gap between crypto and traditional financial institutions by offering crypto as a service.
With the help of payment business services, startups do not need to take separate licenses. Startups can operate on the same license as the providers.
Additionally, KYC is also taken care of by the payment providers. Once the end user is verified, a default wallet in euros is allocated. Think of a wallet as a collection of accounts. Businesses get an option to enable the currencies on these accounts for the end user. The flexibility allows businesses to offer services as per the platform specifications and users’ requirements. Startups can also create additional wallets for the end user depending on the use case.
Business payment services offer currency swaps, which means allowing the end user to swap from one currency to another at a market rate in real-time. Swaps could include USDC/EUR, BTC/USDC, BTC/EUR, ETH/EUR, MATIC/EUR and BNB/EUR. These swaps empower startups in the fintech industry and offer value for the end users at the same time.
These were a few services mentioned above, but there are endless opportunities to explore with providers and experience exponential growth within the crypto space.
Know your client: simplifying user verification for startups
Know your client is mandatory in EEA as it makes sure the onboarded client has a clean background. KYC includes the verification of ID, name, email address, and phone number.
But it takes a lot of time, effort, and money to set up KYC in-house for startups. Fortunately, business payment services include KYC and AML checks, which means startups can focus and invest more in other business activities.
Striga manages end-user verification with SumSub and internal compliance teams. Legal teams at Striage also make sure to stay updated with the latest regulations and changes within the EU/EEA zone.
Startups are only required to plug the SumSub SDK into their applications, and then the SumSub SDK automatically guides the user further for verification. Service providers save startups from all the complications that can arise during in-house KYC setup, especially with the strict formalities that MiCA is asking for these days.
Hence, business payment services allow startups to operate license-free as the application doesn’t handle important information or manage compliance tasks.
Solution of white label payment gateway for crypto startups
With the help of business payment services, startups can have a white label payment gateway for the end users. White-label solutions enable startups to create branded exchanges that integrate off-ramps, on-ramps, digital wallets, and KYC features.
The white-label payment gateway solution is scalable, cost-effective, quick to market, and equipped with powerful security features and comprehensive regulatory compliance.
Choosing the right white label payment gateway provider for crypto startups is of great importance. Make sure the provider reflects the brand’s identity and fulfills startup needs. Additionally, the right provider must allow companies to customize as per the platform’s needs. Lastly, time is money so providers should offer quick solutions.
Striga enables startups to test, build, and launch the product with a single set of APIs in less than three weeks. Striga has also offered its platform, documentation, and pricing publicly so startups can validate their platform quickly.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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According to recent research, over 560 million people own some form of cryptocurrency worldwide. However, owning a crypto asset is of little benefit if it cannot be used in real life. To take advantage of digital currency, the crypto world must be connected to the real world for a seamless experience.
Fintech businesses are bridging the gap between the real and digital world by allowing customers to convert their crypto assets into fiat and spend on anything they like. Businesses offer crypto-backed Visa or Master cards to the users, which helps the customers to spend cryptocurrencies.
Cryptocurrency cards enable easy spending
With Bitcoin Visa cards, customers can make purchases from millions of merchants worldwide. Spending with a crypto-backed Visa card is as simple as spending with a traditional Visa card.
The key feature of the BTC Visa card is the ability to convert cryptocurrencies to fiat instantly at the time of purchase. The streamlined process is called “off-ramp,” which ensures that users can spend crypto assets without the hassle of manual conversions and transfers.
By eliminating the need to first exchange crypto for fiat through exchanges, the BTC Visa card offers a time-saving, cost-effective, and efficient solution to the end users for everyday spending.
With a BTC Visa card, end users can pay at coffee shops, bars, restaurants, online shops, or anywhere where Visa is accepted.
Issue BTC VISA card in a cryptocurrency wallet app
Integrating a BTC Visa card into a cryptocurrency wallet app opens new opportunities for the end users to spend their Bitcoin effortlessly. Businesses can partner with card issuance companies to issue BTC Visa cards to customers.
Each card issued in the cryptocurrency wallet app must be connected to a source account. Card issuance companies allow businesses to decide which accounts, such as BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, BNB, and POL, should be available on the platform. Similarly, if a business wants to issue a BTC visa card, then it would be connected to a BTC account. Read more here.
Companies like Striga are helping businesses integrate BTC Visa cards into platforms. The BTC Visa card offers businesses a great opportunity to incentivize customers when users make purchases with their crypto prepaid card. Additionally, the card enables users to monetize Bitcoin assets by spending an amount equal to fiat at the time of purchase.
Businesses can offer physical and virtual cards to end users and customize the Bitcoin cards with a custom look and feel. Striga empowers businesses to embed BTC Visa cards into their platforms with a single set of APIs. APIs help businesses easily manage the whole card program, including activation, expiration, termination, suspension, and more.
KYC for crypto transactions & issuance of BTC VISA cards
Customers should undergo KYC before businesses issue cards. Payment card issuers are responsible for customer KYC, ensuring that all onboarded users are legitimate. BTC Visa card providers use KYC to ensure effective AML compliance.
Once the user clears the KYC, businesses can start issuing cards. Companies can issue physical, virtual, or both types of cards to the end users. During card issuance, users are expected to generate 3D secure passwords for both types of cards, which are required to use whenever online transactions are made with BTC Visa cards.
Virtual BTC Visa cards are issued instantly in the application. For physical cards, once the user applies, details are shared with the manufacturer and dispatched when it’s ready. After the user receives a card, it should be activated by using the last four digits of the card in the application. After activation, the end user can freely use a BTC Visa card anywhere in the world.
BTC VISA card solution by Striga
Striga has developed a single set of APIs that helps businesses issue BTC Visa cards to end users. The card lifecycle is managed from a single dashboard, which means businesses do not need to partner with multiple providers for card programs.
Additionally, Striga handles KYC and AML checks allowing our partners to focus on product marketing and overall business growth. Our collaboration with Bitrefill highlights Striga’s commitment to making it easier for businesses to scale without the burden of managing complex regulatory requirements.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
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One thing everyone’s knows about international transfers is the excessive processing time. Also, depending on the payment method or network, it can involve multiple corresponding banking relationships. For example, with SWIFT, banks act as the middlemen for secure fund transfers between currencies and the average processing time can take 18 hours.
Multiple intermediaries mean complex regulatory laws and banking practice, adding to the transfer fees. For small to medium-scale businesses, the costs add up when considering currency fluctuations and exchange rates.
Although the industry has seen massive growth in terms of providing more access, the same isn’t true for payment protocols. According to this 2024 report, nearly 40% payment firms have lost out on business deals due to cross-border issues.
Unsurprisingly, the major barriers to integration were security, payment tracking, and processing speed.
Sending crypto as an alternative to traditional payment rails
Crypto remittances are a practical alternative in cases where traditional fiat transfers can be expensive or limited.
Whether it’s accessing money in countries with economic instabilities or moving money between multiple intermediaries — cryptorails can become a global payments solution. In fact, this is precisely why Striga’s API solutions exist. Building a compliant payment service to transfer crypto with an efficient payment protocol.
Payments orchestration solutions have vastly improved the cross border functionality. And while it provides an increased accessibility, it doesn’t address the main issues — slow and expensive payments.
The payment protocols used in such cases largely operate under the same legacy systems. But before we explore how sending crypto fares as an alternate solution, let’s first understand what payment protocols are and why they matter.
In the payments ecosystem, messaging protocols:
- Establish frameworks defining the structure and flow of information in payment transactions.
- Ensure standardised formats and security protocols that allow seamless processing.
- And, maintain interoperability and regulatory compliance.
Crypto remittances are gaining legitimacy and traction amongst growing regulations enabling a faster, safer, and cheaper alternative to money transfers.
Regarding how to send crypto to avoid unnecessary fees and delays, here’s how Striga enables it. Euro account holders can onramp to a wallet using instant SEPA and crypto accounts can make on chain transactions by specifying the address. Then, using a payment service provider, the user can either convert it to the local currency and off ramp into fiat, or hold the cryptocurrency in a non-custodial crypto exchange wallet.
There is, however, a caveat to this.
While swaps and exchanges are convenient on-chain, the major issue arises when users need to cash out. In such cases, they have to rely on traditional banking services, thus repeating the process of slow and expensive transactions all over again.
But why does this problem persist even after gaining retail popularity?
Not enough acceptance, not enough crypto payout
Much like the chicken and egg situation, it’s not the norm to transfer crypto as an everyday payment because fewer merchants accept it… because fewer people pay in crypto.
A major volume comes from emerging markets engaging in creator/freelance business, vendor payouts, and gaming industries. Even then, a large section of people are discouraged from using it because it’s considered “fake money”. Lastly, there are people who only ever use it for crypto off ramps.
So unless the adoption increases, businesses won’t be incentivized into accepting it.
When traditional payment settlements take 3-4 business days, crypto debit cards can instantly complete transactions without any prefunding. Cutting down on processing time and cost.
Sounds like straightforward logic.
For emerging markets, merchants engaging in international businesses have to deal with multiple local payment systems. They can divert unnecessary FX fees, especially on fluctuating currencies, if they figure out how to send crypto payments. It’s why SpaceX uses stablecoins — to avoid unnecessary complications that come with wire transfers.
Especially with slow payments being a major concern amongst SMBs. In a study conducted by VISA, 90% of end users consider a waiting period of two days or more as “too long”.
Integrating with existing traditional payment systems can solve this and ease users into the crypto ecosystem, thereby improving interoperability.
More than just an investment asset — the good money, bad money problem
Another group of users consider crypto — particularly Bitcoin — as an investment and not so much as currency. And for legitimate reasons.
Unlike the inflationary fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies have a limited supply – making it a hedge against inflation. This is specifically the case with Bitcoin where the deflationary properties are comparable to gold, as opposed to altcoins or memecoins.
And thus the logic behind why crypto isn’t used the same way as EUR or USD. The primary use case still revolves around exchange and trading since the purpose doesn’t involve using crypto as literal currencies.
Bitcoin proponents liken this to Gresham’s Law where “good money” (in this case Bitcoin) has to compete on the leveled playing field as “poor money” (fiat currencies) and merchants have to accept them at their face value. Eventually, people tend to save stable currencies and spend depreciating ones.
Which proves the logic behind the law. Bitcoin is not used in everyday transactions because people prefer to hold on to them for its investment-worthy nature.
API solutions to transfer crypto efficiently
So which is it then? Is crypto a hedge against an unstable financial future? Or a practical alternative to everyday fiat currencies? That’s an extended discussion between proponents and critics.
But for the time being, Striga has solutions for all things crypto. Because businesses shouldn’t slow down in the face of regulatory complexities or shifting technologies.
Every use case has an API solution. Whether it’s for onramp and off ramp, seamless cross border transfers, or simply buying coffee with a crypto debit card — build your product on Striga’s crypto banking ecosystem.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
The post Sending crypto is economical — why is it not industry standard? first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
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A decade ago it was exhausting for consumers to figure out how to spend their fiat abroad while traveling without paying high transaction and processing fees, let alone spending cryptocurrencies.
Fortunately, crypto and fintech businesses are continuously evolving, creating ease for end users. One of the eases businesses have created for the end users is issuing travel prepaid cards for euro or crypto payments.
Payment card issuance to consumers isn’t easy, as it requires technical and legal expertise. Additionally, the whole process is time-consuming and expensive. Luckily, card-issuing platforms now exist that make it easy for startups and established businesses to issue travel prepaid cards without involving multiple partnerships.
Let’s explore how easily and quickly businesses can issue travel debit cards to customers.
Instant card issuance to the end users
Businesses can issue prepaid travel cards instantly to the end users with the help of debit card issuers. Usually, the process is quick and easy if the card provider platforms offer one set of APIs for the payment card issuance.
Debit card issuers also take care of KYC and AML checks in-house. This makes sure the onboarded customer has a clean background. KYC involves name, email, phone, and ID verification.
Striga uses SumSub to manage end-user verification including internal compliance and legal teams that make sure to stay updated on legalization, sanctions, and other related matters. This helps our partners to onboard EEA users with the latest legal rules.
Businesses only need to plug the SumSub SDK into their platform. The SumSub SDK then guides the user through their pre-set process automatically, without businesses needing to handle the heavy-lifted compliance function, especially with the strict rules that MiCa is bringing nowadays. This allows companies to operate licensing-free as the platforms don’t handle sensitive data or perform legal or compliance tasks. Read and test the complete process here.
Once the user is verified, businesses can offer a wallet linked with a travel debit card. Debit cards can be physical and virtual or both, depending on what businesses want to offer the end-users. Card issuers also make it possible for fintech businesses to let the end users spend crypto through their physical or virtual travel prepaid cards. Offering crypto with fiat empowers the end users to seamlessly use the crypto asset.
EUR or crypto spending with travel debit cards
When traveling users want a safer and more efficient way to pay, traditional payment methods such as cash or traveler’s cheques are time-consuming and cumbersome. In contrast, physical and virtual debit cards that offer euros with a blend of crypto-currencies allow consumers to pay without getting worried about processing fees and money theft.
For instance, foreign exchange fees can be highly volatile, especially when dealing with different local currencies. For travelers from EEA, the lack of transparency in conversion fees between the euro and various local currencies adds uncertainty to the expenses. To address this, businesses can introduce a stable-powered debit card, such as one linked to USDC. This allows users to convert their EUR to USDC before traveling and spend with a card connected to USDC balance, eliminating concerns over fluctuating FX fees and ensuring more predictable spending abroad.
With the help of physical and virtual stable-powered debit cards, businesses empower end users to spend digital currencies in bars, restaurants, or any other shop they prefer.
Online shopping is getting popular every coming year and securely paying for online purchases has become a basic need for the end user. Virtual debit cards include two-factor authentication which makes sure every online transaction is verified by the user and prevents the wallet from fraudulent activities.
In addition to two-factor authentication, Striga offers 3D secure authentication for the end users that adds an extra layer of protection for online transactions. With the help of 3D authentication, businesses allow users to set up strong passwords using charset A-Z a-z 0-9! ” # ; : ? & * ( ) + = / \ , . [ ] { } to authenticate the card on online transactions.
Choose the reliable prepaid card issuer
Striga offers one set of APIs for payment card issuance that help businesses issue debit cards to the end users without building anything from scratch. KYC and AML checks are also taken care of in-house at Striga therefore companies don’t need to worry about compliance.
Businesses can easily manage users, card statements, and fulfillment from one dashboard. Striga allows companies to offer fiat-crypto blended physical and virtual cards to the end users, just by utilizing a single set of APIs.
Striga empowers companies to customize travel debit cards with logos, designs, and branding for their customers.
Our current partners are creating ease for the end users to travel conveniently and spend euros or digital currencies efficiently. Businesses use Striga’s payment card issuance solutions to give more flexibility to travelers so they can make hassle-free purchases at restaurants, retail stores, transportation services, and online platforms without worrying about high fees or security risks while traveling abroad.
With Striga’s instant card issuance and compliance handled in-house, businesses can focus on enhancing user experience and ensuring smooth cross-border payments for the end users.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
The post Travel debit cards for euro and crypto payments first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
]]>The post Payment solutions: how vIBAN providers ensure safe transactions first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
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Fintech is transforming with innovative solutions and one of them is vIBAN. Many startups and businesses issue vIBANs because of the ease they create for the end users, especially in the crypto space.
Unlike IBANs, a virtual IBAN is not a physical account. However, it enables seamless SEPA payments for the end users, and businesses can track these transactions, as each end user has a dedicated vIBAN.
Finding a reputable vIBAN provider offering competitive fees and easy integrations is stressful.
Secure payment systems with vIBANs
Virtual IBAN provider, allows end users to make SEPA payments and enjoy the convenience of having a European account. Additionally, the provider ensures end users get vIBANs for their EUR accounts.
Virtual IBAN providers also increase security by reducing the risks linked with traditional banking details. They offer end-users a dedicated and unique vIBAN which makes the transactions safer.
Payment solutions: on and off-ramp
Businesses can integrate an on-ramp API into their products enabling their end users to deposit fiat easily and convert it to crypto without complex processes. Virtual IBAN providers simplify the on-ramp (fiat to crypto) process for their end users through SEPA transfer.
Being a licensed entity, providers take care of KYC and AML so businesses don’t have to carry out compliance checks by themselves. Simply add the KYC SDK to the platform and start onboarding EU and EEA customers.
Once the user clears mandatory KYC, a default account in euros is allocated to the user. This allows businesses to add more functionalities as they like. For example, startups can offer end users virtual IBANs, dedicated deposit addresses, swaps, or any other feature required by the platform.
Similarly to the on-ramp, virtual IBAN provider creates ease for businesses to integrate off-ramp APIs (crypto to fiat) into their platforms.
Crypto remittance offers secure payment solutions
With new demands, new solutions arise, and if we talk about the fintech space, the solution is crypto remittance.
Crypto remittance has made cross-border payments easier than ever. While SWIFT has been used to send money abroad for decades, it is costly and time-consuming, whereas crypto remittance is a cheaper, faster, and more transparent solution.
With Crypto wallets, neo-banks, or crypto-friendly platforms, customers can deposit EUR using their virtual IBANs and convert their fiat into any cryptocurrency they like. After conversion, the end users can send their crypto funds with on-chain transactions to anyone around the globe. The recipient will accept payments in crypto within a few minutes in their wallets and can convert them to fiat.
Striga is working with companies such as Bitwala and Bitrefill to create a seamless flow of funds with its crypto-banking as a service platform. The simplified API documentation and in-house compliance allow businesses to focus on building and scaling their product without worrying about unnecessary partnerships.
Choose the best virtual IBAN provider and enable users to accept payments in crypto
Instead of dealing with multiple providers, businesses can simply connect their platforms with the APIs and offer customers secure payment solutions such as off-ramp, on-ramp, and cross-border crypto remittances.
As a vIBAN provider, Striga takes care of all the heavy lifting so businesses can launch within weeks. Striga is on a mission to empower businesses to create efficient financial platforms and bridge the gap between traditional banking and crypto banking.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
The post Payment solutions: how vIBAN providers ensure safe transactions first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
]]>The post Payment Debit Card — The Next Step For Product Expansion? first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
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What are some ways to make crypto practical? Apart from introducing a plethora of coins, an even better option would be to make day-to-day spending more accessible. After all, what good is crypto if it can’t be adopted by the masses, right?
Think about it, with over 600 million crypto users globally, crypto spending should be the norm. But it’s not as easy. Many are adamant it’s an asset worth holding on to, while some are concerned about the volatility that comes with trading or spending cryptocurrencies.
Despite this, e-commerce has seen a unique growth in crypto acceptance more than any other industry as Etsy and Adidas now allow crypto payments. So even if there’s concern about the volatility aspect which can be solved through stablecoins, there’s an undeniable increase in the demand as businesses explore ways to incorporate crypto payment gateways.
Especially with lower transaction costs, users gravitate towards spending in crypto. While traditional platforms can incur a 3-5% charge crypto fees can be as low as 1%.
Now that we’ve covered the reasons why crypto spending is gaining momentum, let’s look into whether your business needs a crypto payment debit card.
Encouraging True Crypto Adoption With A Payment Debit Card
Coming back to the case of transaction fee volatility, there’s a way to fix that (and no, it doesn’t involve stablecoins). Striga’s crypto payment debit cards have solved the issue of pre-funding your account each time you wish to make payments in fiat.
So now, instead of constantly having to convert crypto to Euros, users can pay by card in fiat at a PoS. Such that even if the BTC price fluctuates, the user won’t lose any value. The Bitcoin always stays in Bitcoin and gets converted only when making payments.
So let’s say your European end users were to travel outside of the EU, they can use their BTC Visa card and pay by card in local currency without losing money on exchange rates.
The crypto card trend is likely to take over as user preferences shift more towards digital and online payments. Whether it’s cross-border or local, there’s a need for instant, cheaper, and transparent transactions. Exorbitant fees and delays can no longer be excused — and so businesses must adapt.
Traditional payment processing methods such as SWIFT won’t stop existing, but crypto remittance can take over as a more feasible alternative.
Learn more: SWIFT vs crypto remittance
But this shift in payment habits is not only a tech issue. Businesses must adhere to regulatory compliance if they wish to remain operational.
For a quick update on the recent MiCA regulation, EU companies working with cryptocurrencies and stablecoins need to comply and secure relevant licenses. This will impact small to medium scale businesses as licensing can be capital-intensive. Already burdened with a competitive fintech market, the regulation is an added stress for SMBs.
But all hope is not lost.
Product Expansion While Staying Lean
Other than the increasing regulatory complexities, startups and small-scale fintechs today have much to compete with. Especially as AI makes its way into practically every industry, the pressure to build standout products is enormous.
The focus should be on enhancing customer experience by retaining existing ones while also identifying high-value ones. Often this leads to product expansions that don’t necessarily solve a user problem. So while it might be enticing to innovate on something that is currently hot, it may not promise a hot ROI.
One way to streamline the production process is by constantly evaluating user needs and demands. Then, figure out solutions that promise long-term rewards while keeping the budget optimized.
So let’s say the end users are enjoying your crypto exchange wallets platform and you have managed to build a loyal customer base. Your users now wish to use their crypto coins for everyday purchases and pay by card. You can offer them a payment debit card to reduce any potential drop-off from your exchange app.
Based on your business capacity, you could either go the licensing route wherein you tackle the card networks and partnerships yourself. Or, take the smarter and much more economical route, and partner with a cards program manager — like how Bitwala did.
So instead of managing 8+ intermediaries and financial institutions, you simply sign up at Striga.
Simplifying The Payments Playground with Crypto Payment API
The MiCA regulation has businesses contemplating their next move. Should they go the licensing route and invest capital into development and compliance teams? Or partner with a licensed service provider to keep it simple?
Well, that depends. For businesses that have a competent tech and compliance team and can meet the capital requirements, going the licensing route could be the logical choice.
But for most SMBs, investing intensively into building a team and raising capital would mean spreading themselves thin. In such cases, a strategic partnership with service providers sounds like a practical choice.
And that’s exactly why Striga’s crypto payment API integrations exist. To cut down on production and compliance costs and allow businesses to launch within weeks.
As a licensed entity, Striga takes care of crypto compliance in-house. This means that all the transaction monitoring, KYC/AML checks, and reporting are done internally to reduce oversight. So in a way, Striga provides fintechs with the crypto payment API building blocks and a pre-licensed runway so they can focus on expanding their product offerings and reach newer markets.
Striga Crypto-native Banking as a Service:
Your path to building and launching financial products
Join the financial businesses that use Striga’s cloud platform to delight their customers and launch their own products without the complexities that come when dealing with core banking solutions’ relationships, licensing, compliance and payments methods.
The post Payment Debit Card — The Next Step For Product Expansion? first appeared on Striga | Stablecoin Payments Infrastructure.
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