ArkStream Capital Research: PayFi and the Future of Crypto Payments

Advanced11/5/2024, 3:44:16 AM
This article explores the latest trends in crypto payments, specifically examining how the PayFi concept integrates Web3 payments, DeFi, and RWA to foster real-world applications of crypto assets. It also delves into the growth of the stablecoin market, the entry of traditional fintech platforms, and how PayFi is offering innovative payment solutions.

Forward the Original Title: ArkStream Capital Research Report: How PayFi Unlocks a New Chapter in Crypto Payments

TL;DR

  1. With the stablecoin market continuing to expand, crypto payments are unlikely to replace traditional fiat systems fully.
  2. The real impact of PayFi lies in promoting crypto asset adoption and innovation in real-world applications.
  3. Solana may not be the sole player in the PayFi or crypto payment arena; Ton Network and Sui, with their unique strengths, could emerge as strong competitors.
  4. The PayFi sector offers vast growth potential, as a multi-faceted, innovative application with a potential market cap of billions.

In recent years, the crypto payment sector has been evolving rapidly. What started as a niche viewed as a tool for the gray market is now embraced by mainstream players. Major financial technology companies like Stripe have acquired stablecoin platforms like Bridge, while industry giants such as PayPal and Visa are actively entering the space. Recently, the concept of PayFi has garnered considerable attention.

In this report, ArkStream Capital explores the crypto payment sector by focusing on how PayFi is advancing this field and uncovering its future direction.

Crypto Payments Sector

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, crypto payments have transitioned from small-scale transactions among tech enthusiasts to widespread commercial applications accepted by merchants globally. This shift is now progressing toward regulatory compliance and a diverse, platform-based payment ecosystem. As technology matures and use cases expand, crypto payments are gradually integrating into the traditional financial system, offering users efficient, low-cost, transparent, and decentralized payment solutions—marking a new wave of financial technology innovation.

At the core of this revolution are stablecoins, which serve as a bridge between crypto and fiat currencies, providing a foundation for the widespread adoption of crypto payments through stable value storage and efficient on-chain circulation. Examining the stablecoin market provides insight into the entire crypto payment landscape.

Stablecoin Market Overview

Image: https://visaonchainanalytics.com/

Image: https://defillama.com/stablecoins

Undoubtedly, the popularity of crypto payments is directly tied to the stablecoin market. The charts above (showing stablecoin supply volume and market share) reveal that stablecoin supply has seen long-term growth globally. USDT and USDC dominate the stablecoin sector, holding 90% of the total market, with USDT leading at 70% and showing steady growth.

An analysis of on-chain distribution for USDT and USDC shows that USDT is issued across 13 chains, with the largest distribution on Tron, accounting for over 50%, followed by Ethereum and Solana. The top four chains constitute nearly 99% of USDT’s total issuance. Conversely, USDC has a more concentrated distribution, with nearly 92% issued on Ethereum, followed by Solana, Tron, and Polygon.

These findings suggest that Ethereum and Solana remain primary platforms for stablecoin applications. The continuous growth of the stablecoin market, combined with traditional payment giants’ entry into the field, demonstrates that the crypto payment sector is beginning to develop a viable “payment-scale” system, proving the market’s recognition of stablecoin payments.

To better understand the mechanics of crypto payments, we will next examine the four-layer architecture of crypto payment solutions, which ensures security, scalability, and user experience in crypto transactions.

Crypto Payment Solutions

Crypto payment solutions are structured with a four-layer architecture, as shown in the diagram, to facilitate secure, scalable, and user-friendly payments.

Image: https://www.galaxy.com/insights/perspectives/the-future-of-payments/

Settlement Layer: This is the blockchain’s foundational infrastructure, encompassing Layer 1 networks and general-purpose Layer 2 solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum. These networks differ slightly in aspects like speed, scalability, and privacy/security. Fundamentally, they serve to sell blockchain space.

Asset Issuance Layer: Responsible for creating, maintaining, and redeeming stablecoins, this layer aims to keep stablecoins pegged to fiat currency or a basket of anchored assets. Issuers generate profit by investing in stable-yield assets like treasury bonds. Unlike intermediaries in traditional payments, stablecoin issuers don’t charge fees on each transaction using their stablecoin. Once issued on-chain, stablecoins can be self-custodied and transferred without any additional charges to the asset issuer.

On/Off-Ramp Layer: Acting as a bridge between blockchain and fiat currency, on/off-ramp providers enable the conversion between stablecoins on blockchain and funds in the fiat banking system. Most platforms fall into two categories: B2C and C2C.

Interface/Application Layer: This layer provides customer-facing software interfaces supporting crypto payments and leverages traffic from front-end transaction volumes as a core revenue model.

Current Status of the Crypto Payments Sector

Traditional Payment Giants Embracing Crypto

With the crypto market’s expansion and the approval of ETFs, traditional payment giants and native crypto projects are actively developing and expanding relevant offerings. Visa, for instance, extended USDC settlement to Solana in 2023, providing a more efficient solution for cross-border payments and real-time settlements.

Building on the four-layer architecture introduced earlier, Visa is constructing its crypto payment ecosystem through multi-layer collaborations:

  1. Asset Issuance Layer: Visa collaborates with Circle to use USDC as a stablecoin for compliant and stable payments.
  2. On/Off-Ramp Layer: Through partnerships with Crypto.com, Visa supports fiat and crypto fund flows.
  3. Application Layer: Visa offers acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei the option for USDC settlements, allowing merchants to handle crypto payments flexibly.
  4. Settlement Layer: Visa chose Solana as the blockchain infrastructure, leveraging its high parallel processing, stable and predictable fees, and fast block confirmation times to facilitate on-chain settlement efficiently.

Through this integration, Visa is moving away from dependence on traditional banking settlement systems. This shift enables users to settle directly on blockchain networks with USDC, eliminating intermediaries, reducing settlement times, and cutting costs. This approach not only highlights the transformative potential of crypto payments for traditional systems but also points toward a new model for future global payment networks.

This year, PayPal also selected Solana as the new public blockchain for its PYUSD payments and has actively promoted blockchain-based payment methods. PayPal’s Vice President has emphasized Solana’s performance in terms of high throughput and low latency, positioning it as an ideal infrastructure for crypto payments. Though traditional giants may lack the native expertise in blockchain technology compared to Web3 payment innovators, their vast user bases and established industry resources allow them to enter and compete in the crypto payment market rapidly.

Native Crypto Projects

In contrast, native crypto payment projects are advancing with more innovative approaches. For instance, here’s a look at some projects in the Binance ecosystem focused on crypto payments.

Ripple for B2B Cross-Border Transactions

Ripple has raised nearly $300 million to date, backed by prominent venture capital firms like a16z, Pantera, Polychain, and IDE. Currently, Ripple has close to 6 million active accounts and over 300 institutional partners across 50 countries.

XRP is the native token of the Ripple Network, and Ripple operates as a Layer 1 blockchain, focusing on the B2B market by providing a decentralized payment settlement and asset exchange platform. In collaboration with global banks, Ripple is working to build a CBDC ecosystem.

Ripple uses the RPCA consensus algorithm. Its RippleNet infrastructure, built on the XRP Ledger, includes solutions like xCurrent, xVia, and xRapid, aiming to enhance cross-border funds transfer efficiency and liquidity. Through these technologies, Ripple collaborates with traditional financial institutions like Bank of America and Credit Suisse. Compared to the traditional SWIFT system, Ripple significantly reduces costs and transaction times, completing transactions in seconds at less than 1% of traditional cross-border payment fees.

According to statistics, Ripple processes around 150,000 daily transactions and has over 10,000 daily active users. However, its development journey has faced obstacles, including a lengthy SEC lawsuit alleging unregistered securities issuance. Recently, the SEC dropped its case against Ripple.

Alchemy Pay for Crypto Payments

Alchemy Pay has raised $10 million from investment firms like DWF and CGV, and recently gained public attention through its virtual card partnership with Samsung Pay.

Alchemy Pay has developed a hybrid payment architecture combining on-chain and off-chain processing by integrating base payment protocols such as the Lightning Network, State Channels, and the Raiden Network. The on-chain layer manages ledger entries and data storage, while the off-chain layer handles verification and reconciliation, which are computationally intensive tasks. This structure allows Alchemy Pay to provide a range of custom solutions, including on/off-ramp services, quick NFT purchases, crypto credit cards, and crypto payment options.

Image: https://alexablockchain.com/alchemy-pay-to-transform-crypto-payment-with-its-new-product/

According to a third-party compiled ACH ecosystem chart, Alchemy Pay’s ecosystem integrates four key sectors: payments, merchant networks, DeFi, and trusted assets. Its partners include industry giants like Binance, Shopify, Visa, and QFPay. This highlights Alchemy Pay’s extensive presence across the entire payment value chain.

Unlike XRP, which is primarily used as a medium for crypto transactions, Alchemy Pay’s token ACH is designed to provide cashback rewards for users on each transaction. This offers a credit card-like rewards mechanism, enhancing actual payment scenarios and building user loyalty.

ArkStream believes that both traditional industry giants, with their substantial resources and global networks, and native crypto payment projects, with their decentralized frameworks and token economies, are advancing the industry in different ways. Traditional players offer strong market influence and regulatory advantages, while crypto-native projects stand out with their technological innovation and fast iteration. Recently, Stripe made history with the largest acquisition in the crypto space by acquiring Bridge. It is expected that they will collaborate, leveraging the traditional industry’s strengths in resource integration and scalable operations. By combining the innovative mechanisms of crypto, they will drive the entire payment industry towards digitization and enhanced cost-efficiency.

Issues in the Crypto Payments Sector

1. Unstable Transaction Costs: Although crypto payments initially aimed to reduce intermediaries and costs found in traditional payment systems, in practice, they are not always cheaper than traditional options. Fees often spike during network congestion, especially on major blockchains. In contrast, traditional payment methods like credit cards or third-party platforms tend to have more stable rates, and merchants often cover the fees for everyday transactions, making them more appealing to consumers.

2. Limited Processing Capacity: While blockchain’s decentralization and consensus mechanisms ensure transparency and security, they also limit network capacity. Because consensus must be reached across global nodes, transaction speeds are constrained by block size and block time. Although Layer 2 scaling solutions (e.g., the Lightning Network), more efficient cross-chain communication, and sharding technology offer potential breakthroughs, even high-performing networks like Solana struggle to match the TPS (transactions per second) of traditional giants like Visa. For high-frequency, low-value transactions, current crypto networks face significant bottlenecks.

3. Lack of Application Scenarios: Although crypto payments can facilitate basic transactions, transfers, and cross-border payments, they are missing from mainstream financial markets where business applications such as lending, insurance, leasing, crowdfunding, and asset management still rely on traditional finance. Crypto payment adoption remains negligible in these areas.

ArkStream attributes this to the crypto sector’s tendency to prioritize existing crypto users over broader market needs when iterating technologies and applications. Both Alchemy and Visa, for example, continue to focus on on/off ramps, crypto debit cards, and crypto P2P payments. ArkStream suggests that to achieve mass adoption, projects must address user needs beyond the crypto ecosystem, especially by enabling a wider range of use cases to build a comprehensive crypto payment ecosystem. Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, recognized this gap and introduced the concept of “PayFi” at the Web3 Carnival in Hong Kong in April 2024, aiming to tackle these challenges and drive the broader adoption of crypto payments.

PayFi: A New Chapter in Web3 Payments

Introduction to PayFi

What exactly is PayFi?

PayFi is not a standalone concept but an innovative application that integrates Web3 Payments, DeFi, and Real-World Assets (RWA).

  1. RWA: Through asset tokenization, RWA enables 1:1 value transfers on the blockchain and utilizes smart contracts to structure transaction and settlement processes.
  2. DeFi: Focused on on-chain economic innovation and decentralizing traditional financial products, DeFi introduces concepts like automated market makers, flash loans, and liquidity mining, with trading as its primary function.
  3. Web3 Payments: This focuses on using cryptocurrency as a payment medium to improve the efficiency of traditional financial systems, such as in cross-border remittances and crypto payment cards.

PayFi isn’t exactly the same as RWA, Web3 Payments, or DeFi. According to ArkStream, its true value lies in driving the application of digital assets in real-world scenarios. More specifically, PayFi builds on the foundations of RWA and Web3 Payments, expanding DeFi’s innovative applications into practical, real-world use cases.

Image: https://www.feixiaohao.com/news/12951184.html

The two core concepts behind PayFi are:

  1. Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWA): To integrate traditional payment scenarios on-chain, PayFi’s foundation lies in tokenizing real-world assets. By using low-risk, stable assets as the first tokenization targets, PayFi leverages DeFi to ensure capital transparency, high liquidity, diverse applications, and high returns. RWA further expands the range of available asset classes, providing stable anchored return sources for investors.
  2. Unlocking the Time Value of Money: Another key concept of PayFi is maximizing the time value of money through smart contracts and blockchain’s decentralized nature, achieving efficiency with minimal cost. This allows users to manage and invest funds without intermediaries in applications such as on-chain lightning credit markets, installment payment systems, and automated investment strategies. The aim is to minimize opportunity costs, enabling funds to rapidly re-enter the market for reinvestment or other uses.

We can quantify the value created by PayFi using a simple model focused on opportunity cost due to interest rate loss:

Let P be the payment amount, and r the interest rate. Assuming traditional cross-border payment takes 3 days, while crypto payments take 3 minutes, we calculate the opportunity costs as follows:

  • Opportunity cost (traditional payment) = P × r × 3
  • Opportunity cost (crypto payment) = P × r × (3/1440)

The difference reveals the interest loss over three days. From this basic analysis, we conclude that the opportunity cost gap widens as the prepayment amount and interest rate increase. Such efficiency gains are particularly significant in high-frequency, large-value transactions and rising interest rate environments.

PayFi’s Choice of Blockchain

Currently, many crypto payment projects are positioned on Solana, which has become the primary platform for PYUSD with a 64% market share, far exceeding Ethereum’s 36%. Stablecoins like EUROC and EURC, compliant with MiCA standards, are also integrating into the Solana ecosystem.

Why do both traditional finance and crypto-native projects gravitate toward Solana? Key reasons include its high-performance blockchain, liquidity of capital, and talent flow.

  • High-Performance Blockchain: Solana’s high throughput is a core strength, with TPS (transactions per second) among the top in blockchain ecosystems. Its unique consensus mechanism and low gas fees make it more efficient than most Layer 2 solutions.
  • Capital Liquidity: Solana’s ecosystem has secured $61 billion in staked capital. Investments from top VC investments from firms like a16z and Polychain Capital further strengthen its market confidence and competitive edge.
  • Diverse Application Ecosystem: Solana’s applications—ranging from the Sanctum debit card and Helium SIM card to Solana’s own mobile device—surpass most other blockchains in user-oriented offerings.

While numerous Layer 2 projects (e.g., Optimism, zkSync, Lightning Network) and chains such as Polygon, the upcoming Monad, and Aptos claim high TPS and scalability, data shows that most Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks cannot achieve even a fraction of Solana’s recorded TPS.

Image: https://l2beat.com/scaling/activity

Despite Solana experiencing several major security disruptions since its mainnet launch in 2020, ArkStream believes it will be challenging for any blockchain to fundamentally replace Solana in the near term. However, we see Sui and TON as emerging chains that are beginning to showcase unique advantages, offering more options for the future of crypto payments.

Sui: Parallel Processing + Innovative Ecosystem

Sui, as a new-generation blockchain, leverages a DAG architecture and parallel processing. Unlike Solana’s specialization in high-frequency trading and DeFi, Sui focuses on alleviating network bottlenecks in large-scale user interactions. This also explains why GameFi and more complex contracts may benefit from Sui’s parallel processing capabilities and scalability.

While Sui has yet to attract large-scale capital investment and its recorded peak TPS is less than half of Solana’s, it is backed by a development team with extensive experience in payments and decentralized applications. This expertise may attract more innovative projects to develop within its ecosystem. For PayFi, Sui’s parallel processing power could offer a significant advantage in applications that require high user engagement.

TON: Community + Payment Bridge

TON originated as a platform optimized by Telegram for large-scale community communication and small, frequent payments. Unlike the technical approaches of Sui and Solana, TON is focused on low latency and high scalability. It has a sharding architecture that can handle a high volume of microtransactions. TON has already been integrated into Telegram’s user ecosystem.

TON’s greatest potential lies in its vast user base, supported by 900 million monthly active users and a mini-app feature. TON serves as a bridge between Web2 and Web3, providing a vast ready-made market for payment projects like PayFi through the realms of social payments and micropayments.

Image: https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_19707.html

While Solana currently leads the crypto payments market, including PayFi, with its proven high performance, rich DeFi ecosystem, and capital backing, the future of crypto payments could evolve toward a multi-chain environment as technology continues to advance. Sui’s parallel processing capabilities and unique applications, along with TON’s broad reach in social payments, are poised to be pivotal forces that could reshape the existing landscape of crypto payments.

As for whether PayFi project developers will choose Sui or TON, the decision will likely depend on specific product needs, market positioning, and GTM strategies. However, a future with multi-chain coexistence and diverse application scenarios undoubtedly offers more opportunities for PayFi projects.

Business Models and Practical Applications

The concept of PayFi was first introduced in April 2024, and related projects are still few. We classify the current PayFi projects into two main tracks: cross-border trade and credit finance.

Huma Finance

Product Overview: Huma Finance is currently the focal point in the PayFi sector, primarily targeting C-end consumers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its PayFi applications. Its recently acquired company, Arf, aims to address the liquidity of prepaid capital in cross-border payments.

Arf’s mission is to solve the liquidity and timeliness issues in cross-border payment pre-funding. Through the Arf platform, buyers and sellers can bypass traditional requirements for bank pre-funding or letters of credit, which are often essential in international transactions. Arf creates an on-chain liquidity network by offering stablecoins on-chain to enterprises without requiring advance payments. Companies using Arf’s service only need to pay related fees and settle with Arf by the agreed repayment date.

Image: https://x.com/arf_one

Huma Finance’s main focus revolves around the “Buy Now, Pay Never” concept, a term coined by Lily Liu. The central idea is that customers can use their upcoming receivables as collateral. Huma’s protocol tokenizes these receivables, allowing clients to borrow from a lending pool, with smart contracts on the blockchain enforcing repayment. The potential use cases for this approach extend to trade finance, SME credit, and even international tuition payments.

Technical Architecture: Huma Finance’s PayFi Stack consists of six layers: transaction, currency, custody, financing, compliance, and application. This comprehensive stack covers everything from transaction processing to asset management, financing, and compliance, enabling the entire process—from loan application and asset assessment to funding and final payment—to be handled within a unified ecosystem. Through automation, decentralization, and layered technical integration, PayFi greatly simplifies complex lending and payment processes, enhancing efficiency while reducing costs.

Data Analysis: To date, Huma Finance has processed $1 billion in total loan volume, with no recorded defaults. As a leading player in the PayFi space, Huma Finance has raised $38 million in funding.

Future Market for PayFi

Having introduced related PayFi projects, we also consider the regional market potential for these applications. ArkStream believes PayFi holds immense potential for mass adoption globally, with early applications not necessarily limited to developed markets (e.g., the U.S., Singapore, and Europe). Emerging markets may present equally vast opportunities.

  • Market Strategy for Developed Countries: In developed nations, PayFi could complement existing digital payment systems by integrating DeFi innovations. Developed countries have clearer regulatory frameworks and policy support, leading to the widespread use of stablecoins like USDC, PYUSD, and EUROC. Identifying a suitable entry point, such as collaborating with retailers, e-commerce platforms, and cross-border financial services to create low-cost and more efficient cryptocurrency payment channels, could accelerate the growth of the PayFi market.
  • Opportunities in Emerging Markets: In regions with limited traditional financial services, PayFi’s decentralized and cross-border capabilities could fill the gap by providing financial services to the unbanked, offering crypto microloans or flash loans. In high-inflation countries such as Nigeria and Argentina, or regions like Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where traditional financial infrastructure is underdeveloped, stable PayFi solutions may achieve scale faster than in developed nations.

ArkStream’s view is that PayFi should adopt a dual-track market approach: in developed countries, the focus should be on enhancing existing applications and establishing partnerships, while in emerging markets, the goal should be to drive the adoption of crypto payments, PayFi solutions, and cross-border remittance.

Growth Prospects

Though PayFi is a relatively new concept with limited live projects, ArkStream sees strong potential for future growth given current conditions. Both the development of crypto payment projects and the external economic environment are favorable for PayFi.

The global high-interest-rate environment driven by U.S. rate hikes over recent years has increased interest in bond-related products, with many in the crypto market turning to tokenized bonds for their stable backing and relatively high liquidity.

According to data from RWA.XYZ, the tokenized U.S. Treasury market grew from $770 million at the beginning of 2024 to $1.916 billion as of August 1, 2024—a significant 248% increase.

Image: https://app.rwa.xyz/

With the announcement of interest rate cuts in the U.S., the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds has continued to decline, leading to a reduced reliance on these bonds by investors. As a result, this pool of capital is seeking new opportunities for investment. Investors are turning to assets that offer sustainable value and stable sources of returns.

The rising prominence of PayFi, combined with the RWA model, fits perfectly into this shift. Currently, the RWA space has reached a total locked value of $6 billion, and it continues to grow. The essence of RWA is to bring real-world assets, such as bonds, receivables, and supply chain financial assets, on-chain through tokenization, offering diversified options for investors while providing higher asset liquidity.

Here are three potential RWA assets:

1. MakerDAO RWA offers tokenized traditional assets like real estate and receivables, leveraging DAI as a stablecoin to bridge off-chain capital demand with on-chain liquidity. It currently holds the top position in RWA protocols by total value locked (TVL).

2. Tether Gold provides a gold-pegged token, allowing investors to gain exposure to gold via cryptocurrency without the need to hold physical gold.

3. Ondo Finance offers risk-tiered financial assets like the U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds on-chain, enabling investors to allocate funds based on risk preference. Amid declining Treasury yields, Ondo’s corporate lending products may align well with investor preferences.

Conclusion

Currently, the number of projects in the PayFi space is quite limited, and most are still in early development. Our focus is thus on the innovation of PayFi solutions.

From a business model perspective, PayFi combines various established sectors, including crypto payments (such as Ripple and Stellar), DeFi lending (e.g., AAVE, Compound), and RWA (e.g., MakerDAO RWA, Ondo Finance). These sectors have already proven their business models and demonstrated both market demand and growth potential. By cross-referencing the market caps in these areas, we believe that PayFi, as a composite model, has significant room for growth. Given the multi-billion to multi-hundred-billion-dollar valuations of leading projects in these fields, we have reason to anticipate that PayFi’s market value could exceed these limits as it unlocks multiple application scenarios such as cross-border payments, supply chain finance, and corporate financing.

From a product standpoint, future PayFi projects should focus on optimizing efficiency and user experience within specific payment scenarios. PayFi remains one of the few true blue ocean markets, yet it still lacks a breadth of applications. We encourage more developers to leverage existing crypto payment technologies, focusing on global markets and real-world needs to drive innovation.

For example, at Token2049, we observed TADA’s collaboration with the TON network, which lowers platform fees for ride-hailing by integrating crypto payments and profit-sharing, making it stand out in the industry. Similarly, Ether.Fi is advancing crypto payment cards through its Cash business, which not only allows users to spend crypto assets but also lets them repay expenses using staking yields.

These breakthroughs illustrate PayFi’s enormous global potential. Project teams should not merely focus on finding high-yield opportunities for on-chain capital but should also enhance PayFi’s usability, targeting price and product benefits to further increase crypto market penetration.

We foresee new types of financial products emerging, which would be difficult for traditional financial systems to implement, such as::

  • Instant Loans: Through PayFi platforms, users can access loans by collateralizing crypto assets, potentially receiving better terms than traditional finance.
  • Early Spending and Investment: Users can make purchases or investments ahead of their income cycles without incurring debt.
  • High-Yield, Liquid Funds: Through staking and liquid staking, users can achieve yields over 10% while retaining asset liquidity.
  • Prepaid Interest on Locked Products: Users can utilize the interest from financial products as liquid capital before maturity.

These innovative products capitalize on the concept that “time is money,” maximizing the time value of funds. It’s clear that PayFi isn’t just a theoretical construct or confined to niche enthusiasts; it’s a practical and innovative bridge between crypto and traditional finance. As a long-term investor, ArkStream recognizes PayFi’s potential and even envisions a future where banking may become obsolete.

The synergy of DeFi with real-world applications in these scenarios underscores PayFi’s tremendous potential in boosting capital efficiency. ArkStream sees boundless long-term prospects for PayFi.

Reference

https://visaonchainanalytics.com/

https://defillama.com/stablecoins

https://www.galaxy.com/insights/perspectives/the-future-of-payments/

https://usa.visa.com/solutions/crypto/deep-dive-on-solana.html

https://usa.visa.com/solutions/crypto/deep-dive-on-solana.html

https://www.explinks.com/blog/web3-payment-research-report/

https://alexablockchain.com/alchemy-pay-to-transform-crypto-payment-with-its-new-product/

https://www.feixiaohao.com/news/12951184.html

https://l2beat.com/scaling/activity

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_19707.html

https://x.com/arf_one

https://app.rwa.xyz/treasuries

ArkStream Capital, with both primary market and liquidity strategies, is a crypto fund founded by native crypto enthusiasts. The fund focuses on investing in Web3-native and cutting-edge innovations, dedicated to supporting Web3 founders and nurturing unicorn growth. Since 2015, the ArkStream Capital team has been active in the crypto space, with members from MIT, Stanford, UBS, Accenture, Tencent, Google, and other top institutions. Their portfolio includes investments in over 100 blockchain companies, including Aave, Sei, Manta, Flow, Fhenix, Merlin, Avail, and Space and Time.

Website: https://arkstream.capital/
Medium: https://arkstreamcapital.medium.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ark_stream

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ArkStream Capital Research: PayFi and the Future of Crypto Payments

Advanced11/5/2024, 3:44:16 AM
This article explores the latest trends in crypto payments, specifically examining how the PayFi concept integrates Web3 payments, DeFi, and RWA to foster real-world applications of crypto assets. It also delves into the growth of the stablecoin market, the entry of traditional fintech platforms, and how PayFi is offering innovative payment solutions.

Forward the Original Title: ArkStream Capital Research Report: How PayFi Unlocks a New Chapter in Crypto Payments

TL;DR

  1. With the stablecoin market continuing to expand, crypto payments are unlikely to replace traditional fiat systems fully.
  2. The real impact of PayFi lies in promoting crypto asset adoption and innovation in real-world applications.
  3. Solana may not be the sole player in the PayFi or crypto payment arena; Ton Network and Sui, with their unique strengths, could emerge as strong competitors.
  4. The PayFi sector offers vast growth potential, as a multi-faceted, innovative application with a potential market cap of billions.

In recent years, the crypto payment sector has been evolving rapidly. What started as a niche viewed as a tool for the gray market is now embraced by mainstream players. Major financial technology companies like Stripe have acquired stablecoin platforms like Bridge, while industry giants such as PayPal and Visa are actively entering the space. Recently, the concept of PayFi has garnered considerable attention.

In this report, ArkStream Capital explores the crypto payment sector by focusing on how PayFi is advancing this field and uncovering its future direction.

Crypto Payments Sector

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, crypto payments have transitioned from small-scale transactions among tech enthusiasts to widespread commercial applications accepted by merchants globally. This shift is now progressing toward regulatory compliance and a diverse, platform-based payment ecosystem. As technology matures and use cases expand, crypto payments are gradually integrating into the traditional financial system, offering users efficient, low-cost, transparent, and decentralized payment solutions—marking a new wave of financial technology innovation.

At the core of this revolution are stablecoins, which serve as a bridge between crypto and fiat currencies, providing a foundation for the widespread adoption of crypto payments through stable value storage and efficient on-chain circulation. Examining the stablecoin market provides insight into the entire crypto payment landscape.

Stablecoin Market Overview

Image: https://visaonchainanalytics.com/

Image: https://defillama.com/stablecoins

Undoubtedly, the popularity of crypto payments is directly tied to the stablecoin market. The charts above (showing stablecoin supply volume and market share) reveal that stablecoin supply has seen long-term growth globally. USDT and USDC dominate the stablecoin sector, holding 90% of the total market, with USDT leading at 70% and showing steady growth.

An analysis of on-chain distribution for USDT and USDC shows that USDT is issued across 13 chains, with the largest distribution on Tron, accounting for over 50%, followed by Ethereum and Solana. The top four chains constitute nearly 99% of USDT’s total issuance. Conversely, USDC has a more concentrated distribution, with nearly 92% issued on Ethereum, followed by Solana, Tron, and Polygon.

These findings suggest that Ethereum and Solana remain primary platforms for stablecoin applications. The continuous growth of the stablecoin market, combined with traditional payment giants’ entry into the field, demonstrates that the crypto payment sector is beginning to develop a viable “payment-scale” system, proving the market’s recognition of stablecoin payments.

To better understand the mechanics of crypto payments, we will next examine the four-layer architecture of crypto payment solutions, which ensures security, scalability, and user experience in crypto transactions.

Crypto Payment Solutions

Crypto payment solutions are structured with a four-layer architecture, as shown in the diagram, to facilitate secure, scalable, and user-friendly payments.

Image: https://www.galaxy.com/insights/perspectives/the-future-of-payments/

Settlement Layer: This is the blockchain’s foundational infrastructure, encompassing Layer 1 networks and general-purpose Layer 2 solutions like Optimism and Arbitrum. These networks differ slightly in aspects like speed, scalability, and privacy/security. Fundamentally, they serve to sell blockchain space.

Asset Issuance Layer: Responsible for creating, maintaining, and redeeming stablecoins, this layer aims to keep stablecoins pegged to fiat currency or a basket of anchored assets. Issuers generate profit by investing in stable-yield assets like treasury bonds. Unlike intermediaries in traditional payments, stablecoin issuers don’t charge fees on each transaction using their stablecoin. Once issued on-chain, stablecoins can be self-custodied and transferred without any additional charges to the asset issuer.

On/Off-Ramp Layer: Acting as a bridge between blockchain and fiat currency, on/off-ramp providers enable the conversion between stablecoins on blockchain and funds in the fiat banking system. Most platforms fall into two categories: B2C and C2C.

Interface/Application Layer: This layer provides customer-facing software interfaces supporting crypto payments and leverages traffic from front-end transaction volumes as a core revenue model.

Current Status of the Crypto Payments Sector

Traditional Payment Giants Embracing Crypto

With the crypto market’s expansion and the approval of ETFs, traditional payment giants and native crypto projects are actively developing and expanding relevant offerings. Visa, for instance, extended USDC settlement to Solana in 2023, providing a more efficient solution for cross-border payments and real-time settlements.

Building on the four-layer architecture introduced earlier, Visa is constructing its crypto payment ecosystem through multi-layer collaborations:

  1. Asset Issuance Layer: Visa collaborates with Circle to use USDC as a stablecoin for compliant and stable payments.
  2. On/Off-Ramp Layer: Through partnerships with Crypto.com, Visa supports fiat and crypto fund flows.
  3. Application Layer: Visa offers acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei the option for USDC settlements, allowing merchants to handle crypto payments flexibly.
  4. Settlement Layer: Visa chose Solana as the blockchain infrastructure, leveraging its high parallel processing, stable and predictable fees, and fast block confirmation times to facilitate on-chain settlement efficiently.

Through this integration, Visa is moving away from dependence on traditional banking settlement systems. This shift enables users to settle directly on blockchain networks with USDC, eliminating intermediaries, reducing settlement times, and cutting costs. This approach not only highlights the transformative potential of crypto payments for traditional systems but also points toward a new model for future global payment networks.

This year, PayPal also selected Solana as the new public blockchain for its PYUSD payments and has actively promoted blockchain-based payment methods. PayPal’s Vice President has emphasized Solana’s performance in terms of high throughput and low latency, positioning it as an ideal infrastructure for crypto payments. Though traditional giants may lack the native expertise in blockchain technology compared to Web3 payment innovators, their vast user bases and established industry resources allow them to enter and compete in the crypto payment market rapidly.

Native Crypto Projects

In contrast, native crypto payment projects are advancing with more innovative approaches. For instance, here’s a look at some projects in the Binance ecosystem focused on crypto payments.

Ripple for B2B Cross-Border Transactions

Ripple has raised nearly $300 million to date, backed by prominent venture capital firms like a16z, Pantera, Polychain, and IDE. Currently, Ripple has close to 6 million active accounts and over 300 institutional partners across 50 countries.

XRP is the native token of the Ripple Network, and Ripple operates as a Layer 1 blockchain, focusing on the B2B market by providing a decentralized payment settlement and asset exchange platform. In collaboration with global banks, Ripple is working to build a CBDC ecosystem.

Ripple uses the RPCA consensus algorithm. Its RippleNet infrastructure, built on the XRP Ledger, includes solutions like xCurrent, xVia, and xRapid, aiming to enhance cross-border funds transfer efficiency and liquidity. Through these technologies, Ripple collaborates with traditional financial institutions like Bank of America and Credit Suisse. Compared to the traditional SWIFT system, Ripple significantly reduces costs and transaction times, completing transactions in seconds at less than 1% of traditional cross-border payment fees.

According to statistics, Ripple processes around 150,000 daily transactions and has over 10,000 daily active users. However, its development journey has faced obstacles, including a lengthy SEC lawsuit alleging unregistered securities issuance. Recently, the SEC dropped its case against Ripple.

Alchemy Pay for Crypto Payments

Alchemy Pay has raised $10 million from investment firms like DWF and CGV, and recently gained public attention through its virtual card partnership with Samsung Pay.

Alchemy Pay has developed a hybrid payment architecture combining on-chain and off-chain processing by integrating base payment protocols such as the Lightning Network, State Channels, and the Raiden Network. The on-chain layer manages ledger entries and data storage, while the off-chain layer handles verification and reconciliation, which are computationally intensive tasks. This structure allows Alchemy Pay to provide a range of custom solutions, including on/off-ramp services, quick NFT purchases, crypto credit cards, and crypto payment options.

Image: https://alexablockchain.com/alchemy-pay-to-transform-crypto-payment-with-its-new-product/

According to a third-party compiled ACH ecosystem chart, Alchemy Pay’s ecosystem integrates four key sectors: payments, merchant networks, DeFi, and trusted assets. Its partners include industry giants like Binance, Shopify, Visa, and QFPay. This highlights Alchemy Pay’s extensive presence across the entire payment value chain.

Unlike XRP, which is primarily used as a medium for crypto transactions, Alchemy Pay’s token ACH is designed to provide cashback rewards for users on each transaction. This offers a credit card-like rewards mechanism, enhancing actual payment scenarios and building user loyalty.

ArkStream believes that both traditional industry giants, with their substantial resources and global networks, and native crypto payment projects, with their decentralized frameworks and token economies, are advancing the industry in different ways. Traditional players offer strong market influence and regulatory advantages, while crypto-native projects stand out with their technological innovation and fast iteration. Recently, Stripe made history with the largest acquisition in the crypto space by acquiring Bridge. It is expected that they will collaborate, leveraging the traditional industry’s strengths in resource integration and scalable operations. By combining the innovative mechanisms of crypto, they will drive the entire payment industry towards digitization and enhanced cost-efficiency.

Issues in the Crypto Payments Sector

1. Unstable Transaction Costs: Although crypto payments initially aimed to reduce intermediaries and costs found in traditional payment systems, in practice, they are not always cheaper than traditional options. Fees often spike during network congestion, especially on major blockchains. In contrast, traditional payment methods like credit cards or third-party platforms tend to have more stable rates, and merchants often cover the fees for everyday transactions, making them more appealing to consumers.

2. Limited Processing Capacity: While blockchain’s decentralization and consensus mechanisms ensure transparency and security, they also limit network capacity. Because consensus must be reached across global nodes, transaction speeds are constrained by block size and block time. Although Layer 2 scaling solutions (e.g., the Lightning Network), more efficient cross-chain communication, and sharding technology offer potential breakthroughs, even high-performing networks like Solana struggle to match the TPS (transactions per second) of traditional giants like Visa. For high-frequency, low-value transactions, current crypto networks face significant bottlenecks.

3. Lack of Application Scenarios: Although crypto payments can facilitate basic transactions, transfers, and cross-border payments, they are missing from mainstream financial markets where business applications such as lending, insurance, leasing, crowdfunding, and asset management still rely on traditional finance. Crypto payment adoption remains negligible in these areas.

ArkStream attributes this to the crypto sector’s tendency to prioritize existing crypto users over broader market needs when iterating technologies and applications. Both Alchemy and Visa, for example, continue to focus on on/off ramps, crypto debit cards, and crypto P2P payments. ArkStream suggests that to achieve mass adoption, projects must address user needs beyond the crypto ecosystem, especially by enabling a wider range of use cases to build a comprehensive crypto payment ecosystem. Lily Liu, President of the Solana Foundation, recognized this gap and introduced the concept of “PayFi” at the Web3 Carnival in Hong Kong in April 2024, aiming to tackle these challenges and drive the broader adoption of crypto payments.

PayFi: A New Chapter in Web3 Payments

Introduction to PayFi

What exactly is PayFi?

PayFi is not a standalone concept but an innovative application that integrates Web3 Payments, DeFi, and Real-World Assets (RWA).

  1. RWA: Through asset tokenization, RWA enables 1:1 value transfers on the blockchain and utilizes smart contracts to structure transaction and settlement processes.
  2. DeFi: Focused on on-chain economic innovation and decentralizing traditional financial products, DeFi introduces concepts like automated market makers, flash loans, and liquidity mining, with trading as its primary function.
  3. Web3 Payments: This focuses on using cryptocurrency as a payment medium to improve the efficiency of traditional financial systems, such as in cross-border remittances and crypto payment cards.

PayFi isn’t exactly the same as RWA, Web3 Payments, or DeFi. According to ArkStream, its true value lies in driving the application of digital assets in real-world scenarios. More specifically, PayFi builds on the foundations of RWA and Web3 Payments, expanding DeFi’s innovative applications into practical, real-world use cases.

Image: https://www.feixiaohao.com/news/12951184.html

The two core concepts behind PayFi are:

  1. Tokenization of Real-World Assets (RWA): To integrate traditional payment scenarios on-chain, PayFi’s foundation lies in tokenizing real-world assets. By using low-risk, stable assets as the first tokenization targets, PayFi leverages DeFi to ensure capital transparency, high liquidity, diverse applications, and high returns. RWA further expands the range of available asset classes, providing stable anchored return sources for investors.
  2. Unlocking the Time Value of Money: Another key concept of PayFi is maximizing the time value of money through smart contracts and blockchain’s decentralized nature, achieving efficiency with minimal cost. This allows users to manage and invest funds without intermediaries in applications such as on-chain lightning credit markets, installment payment systems, and automated investment strategies. The aim is to minimize opportunity costs, enabling funds to rapidly re-enter the market for reinvestment or other uses.

We can quantify the value created by PayFi using a simple model focused on opportunity cost due to interest rate loss:

Let P be the payment amount, and r the interest rate. Assuming traditional cross-border payment takes 3 days, while crypto payments take 3 minutes, we calculate the opportunity costs as follows:

  • Opportunity cost (traditional payment) = P × r × 3
  • Opportunity cost (crypto payment) = P × r × (3/1440)

The difference reveals the interest loss over three days. From this basic analysis, we conclude that the opportunity cost gap widens as the prepayment amount and interest rate increase. Such efficiency gains are particularly significant in high-frequency, large-value transactions and rising interest rate environments.

PayFi’s Choice of Blockchain

Currently, many crypto payment projects are positioned on Solana, which has become the primary platform for PYUSD with a 64% market share, far exceeding Ethereum’s 36%. Stablecoins like EUROC and EURC, compliant with MiCA standards, are also integrating into the Solana ecosystem.

Why do both traditional finance and crypto-native projects gravitate toward Solana? Key reasons include its high-performance blockchain, liquidity of capital, and talent flow.

  • High-Performance Blockchain: Solana’s high throughput is a core strength, with TPS (transactions per second) among the top in blockchain ecosystems. Its unique consensus mechanism and low gas fees make it more efficient than most Layer 2 solutions.
  • Capital Liquidity: Solana’s ecosystem has secured $61 billion in staked capital. Investments from top VC investments from firms like a16z and Polychain Capital further strengthen its market confidence and competitive edge.
  • Diverse Application Ecosystem: Solana’s applications—ranging from the Sanctum debit card and Helium SIM card to Solana’s own mobile device—surpass most other blockchains in user-oriented offerings.

While numerous Layer 2 projects (e.g., Optimism, zkSync, Lightning Network) and chains such as Polygon, the upcoming Monad, and Aptos claim high TPS and scalability, data shows that most Layer 1 and Layer 2 networks cannot achieve even a fraction of Solana’s recorded TPS.

Image: https://l2beat.com/scaling/activity

Despite Solana experiencing several major security disruptions since its mainnet launch in 2020, ArkStream believes it will be challenging for any blockchain to fundamentally replace Solana in the near term. However, we see Sui and TON as emerging chains that are beginning to showcase unique advantages, offering more options for the future of crypto payments.

Sui: Parallel Processing + Innovative Ecosystem

Sui, as a new-generation blockchain, leverages a DAG architecture and parallel processing. Unlike Solana’s specialization in high-frequency trading and DeFi, Sui focuses on alleviating network bottlenecks in large-scale user interactions. This also explains why GameFi and more complex contracts may benefit from Sui’s parallel processing capabilities and scalability.

While Sui has yet to attract large-scale capital investment and its recorded peak TPS is less than half of Solana’s, it is backed by a development team with extensive experience in payments and decentralized applications. This expertise may attract more innovative projects to develop within its ecosystem. For PayFi, Sui’s parallel processing power could offer a significant advantage in applications that require high user engagement.

TON: Community + Payment Bridge

TON originated as a platform optimized by Telegram for large-scale community communication and small, frequent payments. Unlike the technical approaches of Sui and Solana, TON is focused on low latency and high scalability. It has a sharding architecture that can handle a high volume of microtransactions. TON has already been integrated into Telegram’s user ecosystem.

TON’s greatest potential lies in its vast user base, supported by 900 million monthly active users and a mini-app feature. TON serves as a bridge between Web2 and Web3, providing a vast ready-made market for payment projects like PayFi through the realms of social payments and micropayments.

Image: https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_19707.html

While Solana currently leads the crypto payments market, including PayFi, with its proven high performance, rich DeFi ecosystem, and capital backing, the future of crypto payments could evolve toward a multi-chain environment as technology continues to advance. Sui’s parallel processing capabilities and unique applications, along with TON’s broad reach in social payments, are poised to be pivotal forces that could reshape the existing landscape of crypto payments.

As for whether PayFi project developers will choose Sui or TON, the decision will likely depend on specific product needs, market positioning, and GTM strategies. However, a future with multi-chain coexistence and diverse application scenarios undoubtedly offers more opportunities for PayFi projects.

Business Models and Practical Applications

The concept of PayFi was first introduced in April 2024, and related projects are still few. We classify the current PayFi projects into two main tracks: cross-border trade and credit finance.

Huma Finance

Product Overview: Huma Finance is currently the focal point in the PayFi sector, primarily targeting C-end consumers and small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with its PayFi applications. Its recently acquired company, Arf, aims to address the liquidity of prepaid capital in cross-border payments.

Arf’s mission is to solve the liquidity and timeliness issues in cross-border payment pre-funding. Through the Arf platform, buyers and sellers can bypass traditional requirements for bank pre-funding or letters of credit, which are often essential in international transactions. Arf creates an on-chain liquidity network by offering stablecoins on-chain to enterprises without requiring advance payments. Companies using Arf’s service only need to pay related fees and settle with Arf by the agreed repayment date.

Image: https://x.com/arf_one

Huma Finance’s main focus revolves around the “Buy Now, Pay Never” concept, a term coined by Lily Liu. The central idea is that customers can use their upcoming receivables as collateral. Huma’s protocol tokenizes these receivables, allowing clients to borrow from a lending pool, with smart contracts on the blockchain enforcing repayment. The potential use cases for this approach extend to trade finance, SME credit, and even international tuition payments.

Technical Architecture: Huma Finance’s PayFi Stack consists of six layers: transaction, currency, custody, financing, compliance, and application. This comprehensive stack covers everything from transaction processing to asset management, financing, and compliance, enabling the entire process—from loan application and asset assessment to funding and final payment—to be handled within a unified ecosystem. Through automation, decentralization, and layered technical integration, PayFi greatly simplifies complex lending and payment processes, enhancing efficiency while reducing costs.

Data Analysis: To date, Huma Finance has processed $1 billion in total loan volume, with no recorded defaults. As a leading player in the PayFi space, Huma Finance has raised $38 million in funding.

Future Market for PayFi

Having introduced related PayFi projects, we also consider the regional market potential for these applications. ArkStream believes PayFi holds immense potential for mass adoption globally, with early applications not necessarily limited to developed markets (e.g., the U.S., Singapore, and Europe). Emerging markets may present equally vast opportunities.

  • Market Strategy for Developed Countries: In developed nations, PayFi could complement existing digital payment systems by integrating DeFi innovations. Developed countries have clearer regulatory frameworks and policy support, leading to the widespread use of stablecoins like USDC, PYUSD, and EUROC. Identifying a suitable entry point, such as collaborating with retailers, e-commerce platforms, and cross-border financial services to create low-cost and more efficient cryptocurrency payment channels, could accelerate the growth of the PayFi market.
  • Opportunities in Emerging Markets: In regions with limited traditional financial services, PayFi’s decentralized and cross-border capabilities could fill the gap by providing financial services to the unbanked, offering crypto microloans or flash loans. In high-inflation countries such as Nigeria and Argentina, or regions like Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America, where traditional financial infrastructure is underdeveloped, stable PayFi solutions may achieve scale faster than in developed nations.

ArkStream’s view is that PayFi should adopt a dual-track market approach: in developed countries, the focus should be on enhancing existing applications and establishing partnerships, while in emerging markets, the goal should be to drive the adoption of crypto payments, PayFi solutions, and cross-border remittance.

Growth Prospects

Though PayFi is a relatively new concept with limited live projects, ArkStream sees strong potential for future growth given current conditions. Both the development of crypto payment projects and the external economic environment are favorable for PayFi.

The global high-interest-rate environment driven by U.S. rate hikes over recent years has increased interest in bond-related products, with many in the crypto market turning to tokenized bonds for their stable backing and relatively high liquidity.

According to data from RWA.XYZ, the tokenized U.S. Treasury market grew from $770 million at the beginning of 2024 to $1.916 billion as of August 1, 2024—a significant 248% increase.

Image: https://app.rwa.xyz/

With the announcement of interest rate cuts in the U.S., the yield on U.S. Treasury bonds has continued to decline, leading to a reduced reliance on these bonds by investors. As a result, this pool of capital is seeking new opportunities for investment. Investors are turning to assets that offer sustainable value and stable sources of returns.

The rising prominence of PayFi, combined with the RWA model, fits perfectly into this shift. Currently, the RWA space has reached a total locked value of $6 billion, and it continues to grow. The essence of RWA is to bring real-world assets, such as bonds, receivables, and supply chain financial assets, on-chain through tokenization, offering diversified options for investors while providing higher asset liquidity.

Here are three potential RWA assets:

1. MakerDAO RWA offers tokenized traditional assets like real estate and receivables, leveraging DAI as a stablecoin to bridge off-chain capital demand with on-chain liquidity. It currently holds the top position in RWA protocols by total value locked (TVL).

2. Tether Gold provides a gold-pegged token, allowing investors to gain exposure to gold via cryptocurrency without the need to hold physical gold.

3. Ondo Finance offers risk-tiered financial assets like the U.S. Treasuries and corporate bonds on-chain, enabling investors to allocate funds based on risk preference. Amid declining Treasury yields, Ondo’s corporate lending products may align well with investor preferences.

Conclusion

Currently, the number of projects in the PayFi space is quite limited, and most are still in early development. Our focus is thus on the innovation of PayFi solutions.

From a business model perspective, PayFi combines various established sectors, including crypto payments (such as Ripple and Stellar), DeFi lending (e.g., AAVE, Compound), and RWA (e.g., MakerDAO RWA, Ondo Finance). These sectors have already proven their business models and demonstrated both market demand and growth potential. By cross-referencing the market caps in these areas, we believe that PayFi, as a composite model, has significant room for growth. Given the multi-billion to multi-hundred-billion-dollar valuations of leading projects in these fields, we have reason to anticipate that PayFi’s market value could exceed these limits as it unlocks multiple application scenarios such as cross-border payments, supply chain finance, and corporate financing.

From a product standpoint, future PayFi projects should focus on optimizing efficiency and user experience within specific payment scenarios. PayFi remains one of the few true blue ocean markets, yet it still lacks a breadth of applications. We encourage more developers to leverage existing crypto payment technologies, focusing on global markets and real-world needs to drive innovation.

For example, at Token2049, we observed TADA’s collaboration with the TON network, which lowers platform fees for ride-hailing by integrating crypto payments and profit-sharing, making it stand out in the industry. Similarly, Ether.Fi is advancing crypto payment cards through its Cash business, which not only allows users to spend crypto assets but also lets them repay expenses using staking yields.

These breakthroughs illustrate PayFi’s enormous global potential. Project teams should not merely focus on finding high-yield opportunities for on-chain capital but should also enhance PayFi’s usability, targeting price and product benefits to further increase crypto market penetration.

We foresee new types of financial products emerging, which would be difficult for traditional financial systems to implement, such as::

  • Instant Loans: Through PayFi platforms, users can access loans by collateralizing crypto assets, potentially receiving better terms than traditional finance.
  • Early Spending and Investment: Users can make purchases or investments ahead of their income cycles without incurring debt.
  • High-Yield, Liquid Funds: Through staking and liquid staking, users can achieve yields over 10% while retaining asset liquidity.
  • Prepaid Interest on Locked Products: Users can utilize the interest from financial products as liquid capital before maturity.

These innovative products capitalize on the concept that “time is money,” maximizing the time value of funds. It’s clear that PayFi isn’t just a theoretical construct or confined to niche enthusiasts; it’s a practical and innovative bridge between crypto and traditional finance. As a long-term investor, ArkStream recognizes PayFi’s potential and even envisions a future where banking may become obsolete.

The synergy of DeFi with real-world applications in these scenarios underscores PayFi’s tremendous potential in boosting capital efficiency. ArkStream sees boundless long-term prospects for PayFi.

Reference

https://visaonchainanalytics.com/

https://defillama.com/stablecoins

https://www.galaxy.com/insights/perspectives/the-future-of-payments/

https://usa.visa.com/solutions/crypto/deep-dive-on-solana.html

https://usa.visa.com/solutions/crypto/deep-dive-on-solana.html

https://www.explinks.com/blog/web3-payment-research-report/

https://alexablockchain.com/alchemy-pay-to-transform-crypto-payment-with-its-new-product/

https://www.feixiaohao.com/news/12951184.html

https://l2beat.com/scaling/activity

https://www.techflowpost.com/article/detail_19707.html

https://x.com/arf_one

https://app.rwa.xyz/treasuries

ArkStream Capital, with both primary market and liquidity strategies, is a crypto fund founded by native crypto enthusiasts. The fund focuses on investing in Web3-native and cutting-edge innovations, dedicated to supporting Web3 founders and nurturing unicorn growth. Since 2015, the ArkStream Capital team has been active in the crypto space, with members from MIT, Stanford, UBS, Accenture, Tencent, Google, and other top institutions. Their portfolio includes investments in over 100 blockchain companies, including Aave, Sei, Manta, Flow, Fhenix, Merlin, Avail, and Space and Time.

Website: https://arkstream.capital/
Medium: https://arkstreamcapital.medium.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ark_stream

Statement:

  1. This article is reproduced from [ArkStream Capital]. Forward the original title “ArkStream Capital Research Report: How PayFi Unlocks a New Chapter in Crypto Payments”. The copyright belongs to the original author [James Zhu]. If you have any objections, please contact Gate Learn Team, the team will handle it as soon as possible according to relevant procedures.

  2. Liability Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not constitute any investment advice.

  3. Translations of the article into other languages are done by the Gate Learn team. Unless mentioned, copying, distributing, or plagiarizing the translated articles is prohibited.

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