AMP and Flexa Solve Classic Crypto Problem. Verifiable Collateralization for Digital Payments and Transactions.

3 min read

The Problem that AMP and Flexa Solve.

There are two critical parts of the AMP project.

  • AMP is an ERC20 token that’s used as collateral in the Flexa network
  • Flexa is the payments services company that created AMP. The company’s primary responsibility is getting merchants to accept crypto payments via Flexa.

Flexa and AMP work together to solve the classic problem in crypto: how to buy a cup of coffee with your Bitcoin.

If you’ve ever sent BTC, the transaction often shows up in the receiver’s wallet within seconds. However, the transaction is not confirmed until much later. Most merchants require 30 to 60 minutes (3 to 6 confirmations) to guarantee they don’t lose money due to a double spend or chain reorg. That long wait time is where AMP and Flexa come in.

How AMP & Flexa Work Together.

In a single sentence: by insuring against loss, the Flexa network allows a merchant to accept an instant crypto transaction without forcing the customer to wait a long time. The simplest way to think about Flexa and AMP is as insurance for transactions.

The merchant pays a fee to accept cryptocurrency payments via the Flexa network. The Flexa fee is usually about 1%, compared to the 3% or higher fee merchants must pay to credit card companies.

If a customer pulls off a double spend or there is some other problem with the crypto payment, the Flexa network reimburses the merchant. 

That’s great for the merchant, but what does that have to do with the AMP token? 

  • Investors buy AMP and stake it.
  • The staked AMP tokens act as collateral against loss. If a merchant doesn’t receive the crypto they were supposed to, enough staked AMP is liquidated to cover the merchant’s losses.
  • The 1% transaction fees that the merchant pays are used to buy AMP on the open market and distribute it to AMP stakers

With this model, you can see how AMP and Flexa work together to create a decentralized solution to crypto payments. The merchant can accept instant (zero confirmation) payments since they are insured against loss. AMP stakers receive a passive income while taking the risk that a small portion of their tokens could be sold to reimburse a merchant. Incidentally, this is similar to how MakerDAO and the MKR token work.

The more merchants that accept crypto payments via Flexa, the higher the staking yield. What’s brilliant about this model is that the staking yield comes from real-world use and does not depend on constant token inflation. At least, that’s how it will work in the future. Currently, Flexa is propping up the staking yield by distributing tokens from the treasury. However, that will end once enough merchants use the protocol to support a generous staking yield. 

Why AMP Could Succeed

There are three key reasons that AMP and the Flexa network could succeed in bringing instant crypto payments to the world:

1) Regulatory Approval

Unlike Ripple XRP, which is currently facing a massive lawsuit from the SEC, the Flexa payments company has gained regulatory approval. Flexa is registered in Delaware as a corporation (a prevalent practice), but its headquarters are in New York. Regarding financial regulations, NY is the strictest state in the union. By working in New York, Flexa has deliberately set itself up to conform to a strict regulatory regime.

  • AMP is a New York State Department of Financial Services compliant token
  • AMP is custodied by Gemini and Coinbase, both of which are NYDFS-approved custodians
  • Flexa is licensed via the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System with the ID 1840599
  • Flexa is registered as a money transmitter in Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oregon, and Washington. Money transmitter applications for other states are still pending.

2) Staking Drives Flexa Adoption

AMP’s staking yield (currently 3.9%) incentivizes investors to buy and hold the token. The more AMP gets staked, the more payments Flexa can process. Since AMP’s staking yield is sustainably generated, users don’t have to worry that the value of their tokens will be diluted over time.

3) Merchants Want to Use AMP

High credit card transaction fees cut into a merchant’s bottom line in a big way. Wal-Mart, for example, pays about $5 billion a year in credit card processing fees. Most credit card companies charge a 3% fee for transactions, although the fee can be even higher in some cases. Switching to Flexa, and accepting crypto instead of a credit card, can save a merchant 66% or more on their payment processing fees!

That’s an awful lot of money saved, meaning the Flexa network doesn’t have to force its solution on anyone. There is organic demand. Furthermore, merchants can easily integrate Flexa into their POS (Point of Sale) terminals. In most cases, they don’t have to buy any additional hardware.

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Flexa Adoption

Whether a family-owned business or an e-commerce giant, Flexa is always looking to partner with new merchants. The latest addition is Shopify, one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in the United States. Currently, the Flexa plugin for Shopify is in beta testing; however, a full release was expected later in 2021. Once that happens, all Shopify merchants will have the option to accept crypto payments easily.

Flexa is also working with Sheetz, a mid-Atlantic convenience store. With more than 500 locations, Sheetz is one of Flexa’s most significant partners. Sheetz is even planning on integrating Flexa at its fuel pumps so customers can pay for gasoline with crypto. An extraordinary vision of the near future! 

Across the United States, Flexa is integrated with more than 40,000 merchants, and that number is growing fast. 

Crypto Payments

By leveraging its decentralized network of AMP stakers, Flexa gives merchants a way to accept instant crypto payments. Flexa can be easily added to most existing point-of-sale terminals, with no special hardware required!

While Bitcoin’s Lightning Network and Ethereum’s Arbitrum and Polygon networks are great solutions to the problem of fast crypto payments, Flexa works right now and doesn’t require any additional blockchain development.

Source:https://www.exodus.com/news/what-is-amp-token/

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