Yes, the crypto financial revolution is coming, but we need a bridge to get there

Most people I speak to that have never invested in crypto, think that getting into crypto is just too hard.

It's either that buying digital assets is too “technical”, or they are simply afraid they will lose their money if they make a single mistake.

And while there is a bit of truth to both those ideas...using crypto is much easier today than it was even three years ago.

Companies like Coinbase, have hidden all that complexity behind silly simple UI/UX. They have made it so easy, that even my mother can buy some Bitcoin with her credit card (and she has) - A win for the industry at large!

And think about this... what's actually harder, sending 0.3 ETH to a friend?

Or the whole process of being able to purchase that ETH in the first place?

It perhaps starts with signing up to an exchange, then the painful KYC process, setting up a bank transfer from your bank in your own currency, and finally waiting for the funds to land so that you can finally buy that ETH.

We both know the crypto financial revolution is coming.  But, in order for us to get to full-scale adoption… we are going to need a bridge.

A bridge for everyone to be able to on-ramp and off-ramp their money...in-and-out of crypto.

A way to easily move our money from “old world” financial systems into crypto-markets and back again. Because the traditional financial systems are not going to disappear overnight.

So, when people say that “crypto is too hard” is it really the use of crypto that's the hard part?

Or is it the bridge?  The process to on-ramp from traditional financial systems into crypto, and then off-ramp back when you want to pull your money into fiat?

This is what the industry does not realize.

This is what is holding back the floodgates from opening. You have to make it super simple.

And the crazy thing is almost no one in the industry is working on this.

One company we interviewed seems to have solved this problem with their “embedded finance” banking solution. OpenPayd Founder, Dr Ozan Ozerk spoke with me on the bridge problem.

"I am super excited to see new crypto exchanges, innovative DeFi products, and new NFT marketplaces entering the market, as well as seeing regulators giving guidance on their expectations. Crypto is here to stay. Period. But no one is really focusing on the main issue facing widespread crypto adoption. Mainly how to actually get your money in-and-out of crypto markets. What in the crypto community often are referred to as on-ramp and off-ramp solutions. No one is building solid and long-lasting ramps.” —Dr Ozan Özerk, Founder of OpenPayd.

What OpenPayd has essentially done is productize a full banking and payments platform for crypto businesses.  

Picture a full-service banking & payments platform that you can simply embed in any decentralized financial product, crypto exchange, mobile app, or trading platform in order to provide everything a compliant banking service does...from a single API.

Anyone building disruptive products in the blockchain and crypto space can simply plug-and-play a fully-functional banking platform...instead of fighting with traditional banks for acceptance and approval of their product.

Sheraz Ahmed is the Managing Partner of STORM Partners. STORM Partners helps companies build and launch disruptive products in the DeFi space. Sheraz sat down with us and shared his thoughts on embedded finance and its impact on crypto adoption as a whole.

“We see some truly game-changing DeFi products that come to us for help with their global launches. However, more often than not these companies have not really thought about how the average customer is going to be able to onboard and use that product...aside from the hardcore crypto users. It's still too technical for the average consumer. Most product teams can't build their own custom payments and banking tech. It's too much.”  —Sheraz Ahmed, Managing Partner of STORM Partners.

Most successful companies focus on creating an innovative product, and doing one thing extremely well. The sheer complexity of having to think about how the payments, KYC, AML, currency conversion, physical cards, and compliance will work is what keeps even the most talented tech teams struggling to focus on building their core product.  

And if it's not done right? Well, then you're in a nightmare situation where your product and user acquisition suffers from circumstances completely outside your control on the payments and banking side.

Banks need to evolve. And they are. Banking and payment platforms like OpenPayd have realized there is a massive missing piece holding back the next wave of mainstream crypto adoption. The bridge in-and-out of this disruptive financial revolution that stands before us.