Liquidity can sometimes be a big problem in cryptocurrency. Trading platforms need ample liquidity to match buyers and seller son both sides of the order book. Bringing more volume to service providers is not an easy feat, but W-Pay may introduce a welcome change. This new service is a payment network, which offers instant global multi-currency solutions. If there is an initial interest in W-Pay to begin with, this may be an very interesting concept.
W-Pay is a Multi-asset Off-Chain Liquidity Solution
Cryptocurrency-related service providers of all types would not mind having more liquidity options at their disposal. They are looking into creating off-chain solutions which do not clog up the main network directly. W-Pay may be a powerful solution, thanks to its off-chain multi-asset approach. This service is designed mainly for liquidity providers, merchants, and trading platforms alike. All of these industries can, on paper, benefit from this new concept.
It does not take much effort to see some parallels between W-Pay and the Lightning Network. Both projects provide off-chain solutions with the potential to support not just Bitcoin but other currencies as well. W-Pay has been in development for over two years now and can support several dozen cryptocurrencies at the same time. This new network has built-in support for fiat currencies as well, which makes it a rather unique creation.
The W-Pay environment is designed in such a way all transactions can be performed in a trustless manner. There is no need to wait for blockchain confirmations, which is one aspect holding global cryptocurrency adoption back right now. Additional liquidity providers will be added over time to ensure this service can scale as well. That latter aspect is rather interesting, as it indicates the demand for W-Pay may be a lot larger than one would assume.
Other main selling points of W-Pay include fully-automated machine-to-machine payments with no fees, no customer chargebacks, and no gateway fees whatsoever. This solution is mainly designed for merchants and retailer service providers. However, it is thanks to platforms like these all services will effectively lower their overall prices in the future. Or that is how this is supposed to work, even though everyone knows all too well companies will not part with their profits that easily.
For the time being, accessing the W-Pay network can only be done through invitation only. Business partners will gain access to this new platform in October. Everyone else will be able to reap the benefits from this new off-chain liquidity solution come November 2017. By supporting so many different blockchain assets, there will be a big interest in W-Pay from day one. Supported currencies include Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, and several others.
Last but not last, it appears W-Pay also provides support for bi-directional payment channels. Users can put funds in a multisig channel address to commence the exchange of payments. Payments can only be made when both parties sign off on the transaction accordingly. It will be pretty interesting to see how this venture plays out in the long run. The concept of W-Pay is pretty interesting and may be the liquidity solution so many service providers have been looking for.
from The Merkle