DartPayments
Member
It's an interesting idea, but we would prefer to keep it all within Dash (partly to show the power and versatility of the budget system). Perhaps something for the future.
Pre-Proposal Discussion: Dash to Fiat Payment Processor
- Thread starter DartPayments
- Start date
It's an interesting idea, but we would prefer to keep it all within Dash (partly to show the power and versatility of the budget system). Perhaps something for the future.
juliomoros
Member
How usefull would be here a smart contract!
SnowHater
Active member
Is this thing USD only, or other national currencies are planned too? Could it be made more like LocalBitcoins.com?
DartPayments
Member
We aim to support all major currencies, but USD, AUD, and NZD will likely be the first 3.
LocalBitcoins.com is for trading fiat for BTC between two parties. We are building a payment processor with instant fiat conversion.
EUR is much more important than AUD or NZD, even the CNY is more important. I know you are based in Australia but that area is poorly populated.
DartPayments
Member
Absolutely. EUR won't be far behind.
USD is the most important for us, and AUD/NZD are the easiest for us.
bluebit
Active member
bluebit
Active member
I believe we need a world map showing the most populated areas of dash users, this will give us and idea where we can setup new merchants. Basic needs are food and beverages, hotels, online stores, etc. If we can get a grocery store chain to accept Dash, that would be amazing. Where do Dash users do their everyday shopping? Where do you buy food? Gasoline? Etc. What about Dash casino machines? Dash casino island
I say we send the DASH instantx soda machine to Las Vegas, and show it to the casinos the new technology!!!
DartPayments
Member
Please support Colombian Pesos, I live in Colombia
We'd love to at some point in the future, but it's not high on our list.
DartPayments
Member
We will be following all the appropriate regulations. We expect to use a third party who specialises in confirming identities for AML/KYC purposes.
masternode
Member
From my experience, what they are asking for is not nearly enough funds to get this company started.
AML/KYC compliance in the US alone will cost around $1M to properly set up on a state by state basis. I know because I work closely with the same attorneys that work with Poloniex, GoCoin, and Expresscoin (all of which spent bundles of money on properly registering with the states). While I applaud your intentions, I just don't see how this would get anywhere near getting off the ground for the amount of money you are estimating you need. My advice is to set up a detailed business plan with clear development road map, marketing strategy, and a realistic cost for execution. In addition, you should find co-founders that have solid experience building this type of business. People with proven track records. Just having an entrepreneurial family is not enough.
Some of you feel that the Dash governance should not be funding for profit businesses. I actually think the opposite. We should be funding for profit businesses, but the right ones. And we don't necessarily need it to be an investment, it can be a grant as well. What is way more important than the investment type is that we are EXTREMELY selective of the type of businesses that we put the money into.
Even if we are very selective, 7 or 8 out of 10 of these businesses will still fail. Only a couple will succeed, so the value these 1 or 2 successful companies brings to our ecosystem should justify the aggregate funds that we contribute to all of them. Just because a good idea comes our way doesn't mean we should jump on board to fund it. We have to be much more selective than investing in good ideas to set up a successful program.
Execution is much more important than the idea. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we very much need a Coinbase type company for the Dash ecosystem. What is more important is that we have the right team to execute. We'll need proof that these are the right founders to build the product evidenced by the fact that they have built something like this before. We'll need a clear development roadmap, mockups, and anything else that will give us confidence in what is being built and allow us to clearly see it's value long before it's even started. We'll need to see that they have the right team execute a well thought out marketing strategy so that it's clear to us why the product will be embraced in the marketplace after it's launched.
We need to treat these funds the way venture capitalists do. They spend 99% of their time saying no (I'm serious, on average they reject 99% of the pitches they see). If we tie up funds in a project that has a high likelyhood of failure (due to anything from a bad idea, to unseasoned management, to no real marketing strategy, to poor product timing, etc..), not only are we not likely to have the product delivered to the ecosystem, but when the right team arrives we may no longer have funds available to fund the project that would've likely succeeded.
In the long run this sort of approach should pay off.
https://twitter.com/chamath/status/701486086409756672
-Ed
P.s. How do I get one of those neat badges that shows that I'm a lifetime foundation member? (or maybe even a Foundation Board member if possible?)
AML/KYC compliance in the US alone will cost around $1M to properly set up on a state by state basis. I know because I work closely with the same attorneys that work with Poloniex, GoCoin, and Expresscoin (all of which spent bundles of money on properly registering with the states). While I applaud your intentions, I just don't see how this would get anywhere near getting off the ground for the amount of money you are estimating you need. My advice is to set up a detailed business plan with clear development road map, marketing strategy, and a realistic cost for execution. In addition, you should find co-founders that have solid experience building this type of business. People with proven track records. Just having an entrepreneurial family is not enough.
Some of you feel that the Dash governance should not be funding for profit businesses. I actually think the opposite. We should be funding for profit businesses, but the right ones. And we don't necessarily need it to be an investment, it can be a grant as well. What is way more important than the investment type is that we are EXTREMELY selective of the type of businesses that we put the money into.
Even if we are very selective, 7 or 8 out of 10 of these businesses will still fail. Only a couple will succeed, so the value these 1 or 2 successful companies brings to our ecosystem should justify the aggregate funds that we contribute to all of them. Just because a good idea comes our way doesn't mean we should jump on board to fund it. We have to be much more selective than investing in good ideas to set up a successful program.
Execution is much more important than the idea. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that we very much need a Coinbase type company for the Dash ecosystem. What is more important is that we have the right team to execute. We'll need proof that these are the right founders to build the product evidenced by the fact that they have built something like this before. We'll need a clear development roadmap, mockups, and anything else that will give us confidence in what is being built and allow us to clearly see it's value long before it's even started. We'll need to see that they have the right team execute a well thought out marketing strategy so that it's clear to us why the product will be embraced in the marketplace after it's launched.
We need to treat these funds the way venture capitalists do. They spend 99% of their time saying no (I'm serious, on average they reject 99% of the pitches they see). If we tie up funds in a project that has a high likelyhood of failure (due to anything from a bad idea, to unseasoned management, to no real marketing strategy, to poor product timing, etc..), not only are we not likely to have the product delivered to the ecosystem, but when the right team arrives we may no longer have funds available to fund the project that would've likely succeeded.
In the long run this sort of approach should pay off.
https://twitter.com/chamath/status/701486086409756672
-Ed
P.s. How do I get one of those neat badges that shows that I'm a lifetime foundation member? (or maybe even a Foundation Board member if possible?)
Last edited by a moderator:
This is why they only plan to work with businesses, and through banking relationships:
Anyway, to get the badge on your name, I think you have to PM Propulsion?
masternode
Member
Well another thing they don't realize is that Coinbase has monopolized the market in the US because of their relationship with Silicon Valley Bank. This has provided them with the ability to do ACH transfers. Unfortunately no other company has this and no other banks are providing this, which is why there is only one Coinbase type company in the US. Until those gates are opened, it's impossible for anyone else to create a Coinbase type company for BTC, let alone for Dash.
But in my opinion, this is not the right team to execute.
But in my opinion, this is not the right team to execute.
DartPayments
Member
What makes you say that? I'd wager that Bitpay is a larger payment processor than Coinbase. We are only looking to replicate the payment processor aspect of Coinbase, not their market maker and exchange services.
DartPayments Can you explain a little clearer? A lot of people seem confused exactly what you propose to do and how you propose to do it, and why you feel you can do it. Thanks
masternode
Member
Ok I misunderstood what your intention was. However, even if you are going after merchant processing I think the amount of funds that you are trying to launch with will not be close to enough to start the type of business that you are proposing. Keep in mind Bitpay's seed round of funding was over $500k.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/bitpay#/entity
Maybe I missed it, but where can I learn about you and your team's previous work experience? Have you had experience in the past working with Fintech or payment processing?
-Ed
DartPayments
Member
Here is an article about that seed funding you are referring to.
When they received that $500k they had already been established for almost 2 years (founded May 2011, received $500k January 2013).
We're new to operating businesses in this space, but we have substantial knowledge (involved with cryptocurrienceis since late 2013) of the challenges involved.
To prove that we're not all talk we built dashstickers.xyz which is a working prototype. You can got there now and purchase real Dash stickers that will be mailed to you.
It is highly likely that we will be included in the next budget cycle, and are looking forward to sharing our progress with the community over the coming months.
DartPayments
Member
DartPayments Can you explain a little clearer? A lot of people seem confused exactly what you propose to do and how you propose to do it, and why you feel you can do it. Thanks
Essentially we propose to build a Dash to Fiat payment processor similar to Bitpay. We hope to launch an alpha in 2 - 3 months containing the core functionality (integration via API, Dash to Fiat (likely only USD at first), deposits to merchant bank accounts), and expand the feature set from there to include more features (e.g. shopping cart plugins, option to only convert percentage to fiat, more supported currencies).
masternode
Member
Yea. You've basically answered none of my important questions. I could hire an indian programer off of UpWork to build me dashstickers.xyz. Who on your team has a history with Fintech or payment processing? If the answer is no one, then I'm going to rally that this not get funded.
These are not the kind of projects we should be investing in.
These are not the kind of projects we should be investing in.