Alchemy Pay Shines in TokenInsight’s Payments Report
The cryptocurrency analysis firm, TokenInsight, says digital payments have now progressed to a new phase in which cryptocurrency will become more prevalent. The 2021 Digital Assets Payment Industry Research Report observes that in the traditional third-party payment chain, the payments process is “cumbersome” and the friction costs are “huge”. The report argues that blockchain-based peer-to-peer payment methods solve the problems of high fees, inefficient cross-border transfers, and high costs in traditional payments. In comparing a number of leading payment focused crypto projects such as Ripple, Stellar, and Flexa, the report highlights Alchemy Pay’s unique crypto-fiat model, adding it “has the most complete product ecosystem with integrated payments.”
TokenInsight’s 2021 Digital Assets Payment Industry Research Report compares payment-focused cryptocurrency projects
According to TokenInsight, the global payments market has been growing at an average annual rate of more than 20% in the past three years, and projects it will reach $6,685.1 billion USD by the end of 2021. Not only are numbers increasing but the actual structure of the payment industry has changed: The market share of digital commercial payment has been declining year by year, while the market share of mobile device payments has continued to rise. “Commercial payments have entered the 2.0 era,” which will provide greater opportunities for the mobile device payment market.
The report divides blockchain payment solutions into four categories: Bitcoin payment, cross-border payments with fiat currency (Ripple, Stellar), digital asset payments (Flexa), and integrated payment compatible with fiat currency and multi-public chain digital assets (Alchemy Pay).
When compared with traditional payments, the most direct advantage of the digital payment model Alchemy Pay offers is the reduction of payment fees. Based on the characteristics of decentralization, “its digital payment gateway simplifies the process established on a centralized clearing institution and reduces friction costs.” While also “following local laws and regulations, it is compatible with traditional third-party payment channels in fiat currency in the form of POS/cash register plug-in products.”
The report also goes on to detail the tokens that these decentralized payment projects have issued. These are payment tokens and incentivising tokens to better support the development of the whole payment network. The tokens of payment projects mainly have two roles: settlement assets and collateral assets. On Ripple and Stellar, XRP and XLM are used for settlement of deposits and withdrawals. CRO, ACH, and AMP are used for collateral assets on the payment platform. According to the price trend data of tokens from April 1, 2021, to September 22, 2021. XRP, XLM, CRO, ACH, AMP, and CELO increased by 73.33%, — 32.18%, — 24.54%, 576.82%, 53.53%, and 43.23%.
From the perspective of payment product ecosystems, the report focuses on supported assets, diversity of usage scenarios, ease of use and ecological integrity of the product. Among the projects, Ripple is noted to be mainly for institutional users, with a relatively singular in its uses and product ecology, whereas Alchemy Pay has “the most complete product ecosystem with integrated payments.”
By connecting with blockchain network adaptation layers, Alchemy Pay ensures compatibility with various public chains and Layer-2 network assets, ensuring settlement at the speeds required for commercial viability. Alchemy Pay’s settlement resources for real-time execution include major crypto exchanges such as Binance, Gemini, and OKEx.
The report makes clear that Alchemy Pay’s partnerships are key to their success (the network’s founders all come from traditional payments giants such as Mastercard, Paypal, and HSBC).
Alchemy Pay is working with Binance Pay to facilitate the exchange and settlement of digital assets using BUSD as a stable currency, with over 300 supported fiat and digital assets. Currently, Alchemy Pay provides payment services in 65 countries and regions and has interfaced with over 2 million merchants through partnerships with industry leaders such as Shopify, Arcadier, and QFPay.
The report ends by suggesting the future of blockchain-based digital payment projects may focus on the technical layer rather than the expansion of payment application scenarios. Centralised exchanges have also been key in joining forces with payment projects to facilitate these payment ecosystems. It also notes that Alchemy Pay has partnered with other public blockchains, trading platforms and DeFi projects to build the BIA (Blockchain Infrastructure Alliance). The report suggests “this will strengthen the collaboration of infrastructure implementation, interconnect more valuable assets and drive the payments ecosystem to flourish.”
